tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3258082.post6784648569264491702..comments2024-01-12T08:44:54.145+00:00Comments on While looking for something else...: On the education of nurses (in the USA) --and parallelsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3258082.post-35532480292547803072010-02-02T00:34:02.018+00:002010-02-02T00:34:02.018+00:00Isn't this a modern parallel of the mediavel g...Isn't this a modern parallel of the mediavel guilds? <i>"all industry in the hands of the guilds who limited freedom of competition to protect their own warm little world"</i> (from <a href="http://mises.org/daily/3961" rel="nofollow">Garrett's review of Hilaire Belloc's "The Servile State"</a>. Is society well served by this government interference, I wonder?<br />And here's <a href="http://mises.org/daily/1673" rel="nofollow">the economist Menger on guilds:</a><i>The guilds sought, by various means, to limit the number of artisans as much as possible (by long apprenticeship, by prohibition of more than a certain number of apprentices, etc.). All these measures were correct from a monopolistic standpoint, since the quantities of the several monopolized commodities reaching the market were regulated in a manner favorable to the monopolists, or to the corporations of monopolists. When freer trade, the emergence of factories, and other influences prevented the guilds from regulating independently the quantities of goods entering the market, the entire guild organization became ineffective so far as its monopolistic character was concerned. Monopolistic fines and similar measures directly influencing price formation at once gave way before the impact of the larger quantities of goods brought to market.</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3258082.post-6541155868073477222010-01-13T08:42:51.002+00:002010-01-13T08:42:51.002+00:00Is it pure chance that all three semi-professions ...Is it pure chance that all three semi-professions mentioned are professionalised versions of traditional female roles?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3258082.post-35662416991313131342010-01-11T16:46:24.761+00:002010-01-11T16:46:24.761+00:00Hi James, top stuff as always.
I too raised an ey...Hi James, top stuff as always.<br /><br />I too raised an eyebrow at the Graduate Nurses thing when I first heard it. I'm not sure it's a good plan either, and will probably exclude many potentially excellent future nurses.<br /><br />I think I'll blame the government for this one (it's usually either them or television that's at the root of any problem). In the desire (and expectation) to constantly raise standards, we've reached a stage where nobody can get a job without first papering their entire body with certification. There was a time when having no O-levels didn't mean you couldn't get a job, it just meant you got an unskilled job. Now there is a qualification for everything, and this paper becomes a suit of armour in an increasingly litigious society.<br /><br />The upshot of this is the segment of the population who used to go straight to nursing college now falls within the 50% of people who are supposed to go to University, so I can sort of understand it.<br /><br />There are several underlying, intertwined rants here, forming a Venn diagram of vitriol as it were, but I'll spare you them for the time being. Plus, I'll miss my bus.<br /><br />JamesJames Morrisnoreply@blogger.com