Why Don ' t We Have Free Trade in Doctors?

With this blog post, I ’m taking a quick break from trying to figure out President Trump’s trade policies. (Is this going to be the most protectionist presidency ever? Or will it end up looking not too different from a typical presidency? The conflicting signals are making my head spin!) Instead, I want to talk about an issue that Dean Baker keeps raising: Whether U.S. trade policymakers are hypocritical because they have liberalized a lot of trade in manufactured products such as steel, but not very much trade in professional services such as medical care. (Seehere,here,here,here,here,here, andhere for examples of his references to this. I think there are more–he talks about this a lot!–but those links are a start).Here is his latest:We have largely left in place the protectionist barriers that keep doctors and dentists from other countries from competing with our own doctors. (Doctors have to complete a U.S. residency program before they can practice in the United States and dentists must graduate from a U.S. dental school. The lone exception is for Canadian doctors and dentists, although even here we have left  unnecessary barriers in place.)As a result of this protectionism, average pay for doctors is over $250,000 a year and more than $200,000 a year for dentists, putting the vast majority of both groups in the top 2.0 percent of wage earners. Their pay is roughly twice the average received by their counterparts in other wealthy countries, adding close to $100...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs