>"regulations make it harder for the rich to exploit the poor". How is a poor person starting their own business being exploited by the rich? This isn't the U

>"regulations make it harder for the rich to exploit the poor". How is a poor person starting their own business being exploited by the rich? This isn't the Uber gig economy, this is a guy selling his labor on Craigslist or something because he lacks better options. >Most non-partisan sources I can find suggest that professional licensing increases wages; Yes of course it increases wages, by forcing out the little guy who is not educated enough to complete the full course of licensing, or lacks the resources to take a lower wage as an 'apprentice', or doesn't speak the language, etc. >I take the view that spending $20 more for a plumber is worth having a certified and licensed professional. I'm not trying to stop you from hiring whomever you'd like. You are the one being the authoritarian. >occasionally doing work that I really should have had some licenses for... I know, first-hand, what effect a stricter regulatory and licensing environment would have had on me as a low-cost service provider. Apparently it wouldn't have had any effect on you since you were willing to ignore the law anyways.