An Arizona Story: Controlling Clip Joints

This article considers the effect of excessive governmental regulation by looking at Arizona’s regulatory scheme for entry into, preparation for, and the practice of barbering, as a case in point. While the licensing of barbers to ensure sanitary conditions in barber shops is well-intentioned, the article suggests Arizona’s scheme has crossed the line from reasonable oversight to regulatory overkill, resulting in restricted entry and creating anticompetitive problems. The article suggests that in a free market, the unscrupulous and inept tend to get shaken out, without governmental paternalism and with minimal distortion in resource allocation.