Hmmmmn, I have mixed feelings on this one. We have truth in advertising laws and I think they are a good thing. On the other hand, if the people renting out the Segways aren't claiming to be experts in the subject, I don't see a need for a license. You can lie to people about things all you want, but as soon as it's related to $ changing hands, I can see the need for regulation.

There are plenty of ways to find out if something's good, and paying $200 to the government and filling out government paperwork doesn't mean it is. You can read reviews of various things online. This is just a cash grab by the government, and I'm surprised anybody would be for it.

I claim to be an expert on love, dating, sex, relationships, and manners, and frankly, I am. I've educated myself in all of these areas since 1988, and people ask me for advice because they read my advice and think it has value. And from what I hear about the licensed therapists of people who write to me, a lot of people are getting rooked by idiots and charlatans. When I do a private session (one of the phone sessions I charge $125 for), my goal is to solve your problem so you never have to come back: I point out your irrational thinking, help you shift to more rational thinking, and tell you the behavior you need to instill (and repeat). Unless you were a childhood incest victim, or you're not a good patient (don't do your homework as told), why would you need to go to a therapist for years? Perhaps you're talking about your problem as a substitute for dealing with it and solving it, and the therapist is enabling you for dollars?

Hey, but they're licensed!

P.S. I was considering getting some sort of degree in therapy, and I asked Albert Ellis (the late founder, with Aaron Beck, of cognitive behavioral therapy) if he thought it was a good idea -- to get a therapy degree and then train at his Institute. Ellis said to me: "You know what you need to know. It would be a waste of time."

Freudian analysts and other therapeutic bullshit artists hated Ellis for demystifying the psychological problem-solving process (of course, Freudian analysts don't SOLVE your problem, you just pay them to listen to you rattle on about it for years). If you have something bothering you, something you're doing wrong, you can probably solve your problem with a $12.95 book -- Ellis' A Guide to Rational Living.

China's Communist party has been doing this for years. When I visited the mainland in 1991, our tour guide had to be party-approved.

Check out the cornrows licensing controversies for similar idiocy to this DC tour guide requirement.

Naturally, the licensing supporters won.

Braiding hair for a fee does not strike me as so distant from talking for a fee as to require government intervention either.

This is so lame. Licensing for occupations may make sense for some occupations (though I would argue it's done better when handled by the main occupational organization) but a tour guide? Cornrows? This is nothing but a money grab and wanting more control over citizens, exactly the opposite of how we should be moving.

Protected From Bad Barbers - volokh.com/2010/08/21/lessons-from-an-unlicensed-barber/
Via Instapundit - pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/104997/

08/21/10 - Volokh by Jonathan H. Adler

[edited]Yglesias: Regulation of this sort, of barbers, seems totally unnecessary. Even if regulation were a good idea, the regulatory board can't protect consumers. It is overwhelmingly composed of people from the industry whose incentive is to limit competition and raise prices.

Adler: Licenses restrict entry and reduce competition, enabling licensees to charge higher prices. This is true of most licensing, even when it appears to serve a public interest greater than barber's licenses. A licensing regime of this sort almost always has the support of current practitioners, who will benefit economically. Many public spirited rationales are a smokescreen, including claims for health and safety.

- -

Protected From UglyRipe Tomatoes
02/24/05 Mises.org by Gary Galles - mises.org/mobile/daily.aspx?Id=1753

[edited] UglyRipe tomatoes come from 10 years of work by Joe Procacci. Customers say they have the luscious taste they remember from the good old days. Few UglyRipe meet the FTC’s standard of beauty for selling out of state, because they fail the roundness standards.

This is the latest in a long line of rip-offs in the name of consumer protection, enforced by government empowered marketing boards. Marketing boards trace from New Deal legislation to “save” agriculture.

Florida growers of pretty but bland tomatoes dominate America’s winter supply, and they protect their profits at consumer expense. Marketing boards block the sale of “lower quality” tomatoes to restrict competition from newer varieties that consumers might prefer.

AMG: So that's why tomatoes are pretty but tasteless. The government is protecting me from having to think too much about them. This also applies to other fruits and vegetables.

Looking at 2 of the examples in this thread:

1) Tourists are vulnerable to deception. Bad experiences create bad word of mouth - and kill the industry.

Classical market theory doesn't work here: there are no "natural consequences when people find out a vendor is unreliable/lying - the injured parties are long gone, and telling others to vacation elsewhere.

Places dependent on tourism dollars use licensing as one of several tools to police the "industry" for the good of all.

2) Cornrows have a legitimate public health angle. There should be at least some cosmetician certification if you're going to do this at large scale to others. Or do you think the current epidemics of lice and bedbugs just happen with no connection to hygenic practices?

I don't know about lice, but the bedbug outbreak is a direct result of environmentalists.

William are you confusing certification with licensing? Now I am am bit like you in that I do see the need for licensing for some occupations but do we really need if it for some jobs.

Lets make a list of jobs that need a license

Medical Doctor - OK understood

Surgeon - OK - definitly

Nurse - Ok Understood. Actually a little no I can understand for giving out drugs but not for cleaning up shit.

Lawyer - Yes and No. Why can't I get my smart legal assistant friend to help hammer out my will or why can't I buy a book to do it. But apparently in some states that is illegal. I see the need for a licensed lawyer if I was facing a court but if I am filling out some paperwork with the help of a non-lawyer for half the price is wrong! .

Flower Arranger - What? Yes everytime I put a daisy beside a rose I am risking somebodies life or property.

Funeral Director - Ok it does take a certain person to bury a body but do I need one to sell me a headstone or casket.

Barber and Hairstylists - Licensing still does not stop a barber from giving me a bad hair cut or a hairstylist from making a dye job not turn purple. Here a certificate would be nice but still the need for it is only partly needed.

Mechanic - Like Barber I can understand certification basically saying if I have a person who is to fix my car they know what they are doing but in some cases not even that would be needed - oil change, tire change.

A lot of time for licensing is either for two reason - extra money or job protectionism.

This reminds me of the scene from Slum Dog Millionaire, where the two little boys pass themselves off as tour guides, and just make stuff up.

I was in a museum in France once, and cracked up because some "tour guide" simply rushed to each painting or artifact or bedroom or whatever, read whatever was on the card on the wall, then turned to his group and recited it, as if he had known it all along.

Perhaps I'll start a new legal niche: tour guide malpractice.

I am all for free speech, but the guides seem to gleefully ignore the apparent fact thet are not simply exercising their right to express their opinion; rather, they are selling information. I support the test. Philly started doing the same thing (requiring tests), after I had been on a few horse & carriage tours with guides clearly making shit up. The tour gets really interesting when you challenge them on their "facts."