Stephen Dubner

Around 20% of the American workforce is subject to professional licensing. The system is sanctioned by state governments across the country, and it has been expanding like crazy. Today, in an episode of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, how much licensing is too much? And where has this system gone especially wrong?

The racket is real. The solution? That's the hard part. But we'll get into all that starting now.

The racket is real. The solution? That's the hard part. But we'll get into all that starting now.

The racket is real. The solution? That's the hard part. But we'll get into all that starting now.

This is Freakonomics Radio, the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything with your host, Stephen Dubner.

This is Freakonomics Radio, the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything with your host, Stephen Dubner.

This is Freakonomics Radio, the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything with your host, Stephen Dubner.

At Vanderbilt Law School, Rebecca Allensworth teaches contracts and antitrust law. Those are pretty standard law school topics. But when she was starting out, she got obsessed with a topic that very few legal scholars, really few scholars from any discipline, have studied closely, professional licensing boards. Let's start by defining some terms.

At Vanderbilt Law School, Rebecca Allensworth teaches contracts and antitrust law. Those are pretty standard law school topics. But when she was starting out, she got obsessed with a topic that very few legal scholars, really few scholars from any discipline, have studied closely, professional licensing boards. Let's start by defining some terms.

At Vanderbilt Law School, Rebecca Allensworth teaches contracts and antitrust law. Those are pretty standard law school topics. But when she was starting out, she got obsessed with a topic that very few legal scholars, really few scholars from any discipline, have studied closely, professional licensing boards. Let's start by defining some terms.

OK, so that's what a licensing board is. What is it not?

OK, so that's what a licensing board is. What is it not?

OK, so that's what a licensing board is. What is it not?

Early on in her research, Allensworth did what you would expect a legal scholar to do. She read everything she could find about professional licensing. She sifted through legal databases to try to understand first the broad strokes of the system and then the nuances. She checked out the economics literature on licensing. And she worked all of this into a critique that she was starting to build.

Early on in her research, Allensworth did what you would expect a legal scholar to do. She read everything she could find about professional licensing. She sifted through legal databases to try to understand first the broad strokes of the system and then the nuances. She checked out the economics literature on licensing. And she worked all of this into a critique that she was starting to build.

Early on in her research, Allensworth did what you would expect a legal scholar to do. She read everything she could find about professional licensing. She sifted through legal databases to try to understand first the broad strokes of the system and then the nuances. She checked out the economics literature on licensing. And she worked all of this into a critique that she was starting to build.

Before long, her work was being cited by the Supreme Court. She was invited to speak in Congress and in the Obama White House. At this point, her critique was legalistic and theoretical. She'd never actually attended a meeting of a licensing board. But when she did that, the obsession deepened.

Before long, her work was being cited by the Supreme Court. She was invited to speak in Congress and in the Obama White House. At this point, her critique was legalistic and theoretical. She'd never actually attended a meeting of a licensing board. But when she did that, the obsession deepened.

Before long, her work was being cited by the Supreme Court. She was invited to speak in Congress and in the Obama White House. At this point, her critique was legalistic and theoretical. She'd never actually attended a meeting of a licensing board. But when she did that, the obsession deepened.

Allensworth wound up embedding herself for four years in the licensing system of Tennessee, where she lives. She attended many board meetings. She interviewed more than 180 people covering 28 professions. She started writing some journalism on the subject, and now she has published her book, The Licensing Racket, How We Decide Who Is Allowed to Work and Why It Goes Wrong.