Thursday, March 22, 2007

The Deadly Risks of Unlicensed Interior Decorators

From George Will:

In Las Vegas, where almost nothing is illegal, it is illegal -- unless you are licensed, or employed by someone licensed -- to move, in the role of an interior designer, any piece of furniture, such as an armoire, more than 69 inches tall. A Nevada bureaucrat says that "placement of furniture" is an aspect of "space planning" and therefore is regulated -- restricted to a "registered interior designer."

Aren't we all glad the government is there to protect us from unlicensed movement of an armoire? Of course the reason our elected representatives (and appointed bureaucrats) enact laws to protect us from the dangers of amateur color coordinators and furniture movers is the same reason they protect us from unlicensed doctors, lawyers, and taxi drivers. To keep us from being duped by fly by night charlatans and unscrupulous operators? Nope, to raise the barriers to entry of a market and protect the profits of those who are already established. Thank God we have the Regulators to protect us. Who knows what might happen otherwise.

It reminds me of the story of the woman from Mauritania who wanted to sell camel cheese to Germany. There were no regulations about camel cheese. The law was silent on the matter (as you can imagine). She was therefore banned from selling the cheese (which would have supported a poor community in her country) because there was no paperwork for her to fill out. Everything must be regulated.

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