By Walt Hickey This is the last edition of Numlock until January 2, 2020. Have a wonderful holiday and happy new year, I’m so grateful you’re a reader. Moving The percentage of Americans who move within the country between states is slipping, and that’s a problem because the quality of life in one state can vary significantly from the quality of life in another. The GDP per capita in New York is twice that of Mississippi, which is greater than the per-capita GDP difference between the United States and Slovakia. One group of people specifically affected by this are those who work in industries with occupational licensing requirements, which make a short move across state lines a career-ender without significant investment in unnecessary new training. It’s understandable when we’re talking about, say, a lawyer, but people with jobs like pest control workers, barbers, or dental hygienists have to undergo onerous and state-specific licensing exams, all to do skills that are functionally the same regardless of which side of the Mason-Dixon or Hudson or Mississippi they’re on. A 2017 study found that