There are skilled trades that don’t pay well. In any case there’s no canonical list of “skilled trades” to begin with.

I fail to see how you can be an electrician longer than a software engineer, but even if that was true there are far more careers a college degree enable that pay more.

imo a "skilled trade" involves a hard to learn skill that is in high demand. Consequently, the demand yields a higher salary than a commodity "non-high skilled" trade that is not high in demand.

> I fail to see how you can be an electrician longer than a software engineer

Because electrical components and systems do not evolve and change as fast as software constructs, neither does plumbing.

> but even if that was true there are far more careers a college degree enable that pay more.

That's debatable when you account for student loans paired with less marketable degrees. Otherwise, I feel that student debt wouldn't be an issue.

Many skilled trades are not that hard to learn, those who know it just pretend they are hard to keep people out.

Of course with an engineering background I know how to read all the different tables and understand where the numbers came from. That might give me an advantage, but I can learn to do most of them pretty quickly if I want. (they are faster than me because they tend to have the tables memorized)

> Many skilled trades are not that hard to learn

If they're not hard to learn, then imo it's not a "skilled trade".

> those who know it just pretend they are hard to keep people out.

> Of course with an engineering background I know how to read all the different tables and understand where the numbers came from.

If you're an EE and you're referring to electricians, I would argue that electrical work is not an easy concept for most of the population which is one reason for its market demand.

Most "skilled trades" are gated by some form of licensure, not actual difficulty.

It’s “gated” to ensure that the individual actually possesses those skills and can perform theses tasks safely and comply with safety standards. As someone who's immigrated from the developing world, I can tell you horror stories when it's less regulated. I'm not a fan of regulation, but there is a minimum level needed to ensure trust.

That is half true. It is gated, but the difficulty of getting a license doesn't match the difficulty of the work. Years of apprenticeship before you can go on your own. Of course some need those years, but not everyone.

There is reason for a license, but they have a system to ensure only so many get one thus keeping supply down

There's a great Milton Friedman test: if license requirements benefit consumers you would expect to see consumers at the statehouse demanding legislation. But this is not what you see in the modern day. It's true very instrumental organizations like the FDA were funded based on public outcry, but now most lobbying done to or affecting those organizations is done by people already in the market.

You must not have never interacted with something like, say, AC install. It's regulated and you're not supposed to buy the parts yourself. You can, but some stores shut you out, they won't take your refrigerant back that legally needs to be disposed of, and so on. Recently I fixed some AC units that just needed a soldering touch up where "real repair companies" wanted to do a full new $10k install.

Similar stuff for locksmithing.

> if license requirements benefit consumers you would expect to see consumers at the statehouse demanding legislation

They are. You're just living in a bubble were regulations have already been set.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/01/the-bigger-problem-behind-ca...

https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/geip/WCMS_614394/lang--en/...

> Similar stuff for locksmithing.

https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/22797-bbb-scam-ale...

https://www.gvlock.com/blog/how-to-spot-avoid-a-locksmith-sc...

I agree that over regulation is not a good thing, but I strongly feel that there's a need for basic licensing

How are those links at all relevant? With experience in two licensed things -- HVAC and locksmithing -- I say the current red tape is red tape.

In the first set of examples, you have unlicensed work by unlicensed contractors killing people. Survivors are then angry enough at politicians to demand either more strict regulations or better enforcement. It’s a response to your freidman quote

The 2nd example highlights what happens when you have a bunch of unlicensed individuals posing as locksmiths ripping people off because they don’t know how to properly deal with locks. Instead of picking them, they use a drill to destroy the lock and overcharge their victims with new locks. It’s a big problem.

Ie Some regulations are useful.

I've seen unlicensed and licensed work by licensed contractors kill people. Contractors aren't structural engineers and all of them will try to cheat you.

Locksmiths in my area have a proclivity to drill locks because it's cheaper than picking, save very cheap locks. Some locks can't reasonably be picked even by most locksmiths -- they have other things to do than teach themselves how to pick 1 specific type of lock.

You don't really understand the markets for these things and think you can regulate them.

Regardless it passes the Freidman test.

Also not enough people have the time or inclination to pick locks or learn enough about a trade to discern good vs bad contractors. My points still stand.

I feel that you need to live outside of the bubble of a developed country to get a better perspective of things.

The drill to destroy locks is proper security theater. If people knew how easy it was to pick a lock they wouldn't trust security. Drilling takes time and makes the lock look better than it is.

The same thing is true of many high paying white collar jobs. Lawyers, physicians, CPAs, PEs all have to pass exams to become licensed. Many of these are gated by non-optional schooling. E.g., in most jurisdictions, you cannot just pass the bar and become an attorney. Others, like physics and architects, are additionally gated by mandatory apprenticeships.

Gatekeeping is not some thing that just the scare quotes skilled trades do.