Is There Too Many Law Schools?

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Lawyers are a powerful interest group that is fundamental for shaping and implementing public policy. They interact with people who are lawyers, even if some of those lawyers never, never go into the public sector. Lawyers have the biggest gains, perhaps, from writing legislation. It's in a profession that we really have never looked at very closely in terms of how they affect things.

Clifford Winston of the Brookings Institution talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the market for lawyers and the role of lawyers in the political process. Drawing on a new co-authored book, First Thing We Do, Let's Deregulate All the Lawyers, Winston argues that restrictions on the supply of lawyers and increases in demand via government regulation artificially boost lawyers' salaries. Deregulation of the supply (by eliminating licensing) would lower price and encourage innovation.