Last week Reason.com published an article showing how the American Dental Association supports legislation that prohibits dental hygenists from providing low-cost dental care. Is it out of concern for quality, or are the denists trying to use government licensing requirements to stamp out competition, which in turn makes dental care unaffordable to many?
This smells like a phenomenon economist Bruce Yandle calls “Bootleggers and Baptists”:
Here is the essence of the theory: durable social regulation evolves when it is demanded by both of two distinctly different groups. “Baptists” point to the moral high ground and give vital and vocal endorsement of laudable public benefits promised by a desired regulation. Baptists flourish when their moral message forms a visible foundation for political action. “Bootleggers” are much less visible but no less vital. Bootleggers, who expect to profit from the very regulatory restrictions desired by Baptists, grease the political machinery with some of their expected proceeds. They are simply in it for the money.
Fo more on Yandle’s ideas, check out his EconTalk podcast.
