Professional licenses, which were once limited to those serving in health-related jobs, are now required for barbers, manicurists, landscape architects, massage therapists, auctioneers and scores of other professions. These government permission slips to work fence out people from the labor force, especially those striving to get a foothold on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. Licensing regulations are frequently arbitrary, even nonsensical. Licensure reform is necessary.