PLF’s Timothy Sandefur testifies to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on entrepreneurship and civil rights

February 07, 2013 | By TIMOTHY SANDEFUR

I’ll be testifying tomorrow at a briefing for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights about how barriers to economic liberty limit opportunity and perpetuate the underclass in America. As I’ve argued in several articles and in The Right to Earn A Living, government restrictions on economic freedom have terrible consequences for racial minorities, immigrants, and those who lack political influence. Laws like “Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity” requirements typically give monopoly powers to politically well-connected, established businesses, while blocking newcomers from entering the marketplace. The result is to push many minority business owners into the underground economy—or to completely bar them from the American dream of starting their own businesses and gaining economic independence.

You can read my written testimony to the Commission online here.