WELL, AMERICAN LABOR MARKETS WERE TRADITIONALLY LESS RIGIDLY REGULATED. NOW, NOT SO MUCH. America’s famously flexible labour market is becoming less so. “The spread of occupational licensing, for everything from horse massage to hair braiding, has raised barriers to entry for occupations that once required little or no training. American employers used to be free to sack workers more or less as they pleased, but that “employment at will” doctrine has been eroded somewhat by court decisions that have established an implicit contract between employee and employer. That makes firms less likely to fire people, and therefore to hire them.”