Sunday, February 27, 2005

Free Market?

In today's local paper, editorialist, Giles Lambertson opines regarding the state's regulation of attorneys. Quite interesting. I, too, have always believed that in our capitalistic, free market economy, that the market should determine who succeeds and who doesn't. Carrying that a bit further, why should the state regulate attorneys at all. Leave that to the market place, if you are good, you will succeed. Lambertson, argues the point comparing lawyers to journalist. He admits that he doesn’t have a journalism degree, yet he is a successful journalist. I agree. We have way too much regulation from the government. Why should someone have to go through 3 years of law school and pass a very hard bar exam in order to hold oneself out as a lawyer? If one is competent, one will be successful. After all, graduating from law school and passing a bar exam doesn’t really mean that one is competent. Lambertson’s comparison to journalism is a valid comparison to an extent, but let’s look at college professors. Why should one be required to obtain a Ph.D. in order to teach on the college level? Certainly we could argue convincingly that a lifetime of experience would be sufficient qualification. We can all agree that just obtaining a Ph. D. does not make you a competent teacher. What about C.P.A.’s? What about surveyors? What about engineers? What about nurses? And, what about medical doctors? Does the state have an interest in trying to protect the unsuspecting public from people holding themselves out as experts in any giving area? Where do we draw the line?