Yet another possible reason licensing requirements have proliferated is that we have a less trusting and less trustworthy society, a much more fluid and transie

Yet another possible reason licensing requirements have proliferated is that we have a less trusting and less trustworthy society, a much more fluid and transient society, today than in the past. We literally don't know anybody out there. Where I live, people from a wide variety of locations across the globe are constantly arriving, setting up shop, and offering some kind of service or other (legally or otherwise). It's not clear they're offering a high quality service or that they'll be available later to fix any problems they may create. It's not clear which community they belong to (if any) and are accountable to (if any). It's not clear how long they'll even be in country. On the surface then, government licensing seems like it might be a tool that transforms a "Random, Unknown, Migratory Service Provider from Somewhere Else" into a "Locally Known, Certified, Accountable High Quality Service Provider"