The Issue of Licensing
Probably the most important takeaway from our conversation with Morgan Fox is that the corruption issue “is a direct result of arbitrary license caps, either at the state or local level.”
“Limiting the number of licenses creates competition in the application process instead of in the market where it belongs, and usually ends up either favoring applicants with more financial resources or creating an environment that is ripe for public corruption,” he explained.
The best way to avoid this situation is to allow any applicant that meets established and uniform criteria to have a license, Fox suggested.
“This [eliminating license caps] not only increases the revenue from licensing fees but allows barriers for entry to be lowered and removes unfair bias in the licensing process,” he clarified.
And it’s not just about businesses that need to survive.
“Corruption makes it harder for legitimate, honest businesses to survive in the industry, so it is important to prevent corruption in the name of fairness and industry reputation,” Fox made a point.