For anyone interested, Calvert County in Maryland has a procedure that is required to become a palm reader, fortune-teller, or soothsayer. To become one, applicants must apply to the Clerk of Court for a business license, pay a license fee of $1,000, be fingerprinted and photographed by the police, and obtain a certificate from the police verifying no criminal convictions. The code indicates that "the term of the license is 3 months," which seems to suggest an annual license fee of $4,000, but I could be wrong; maybe it's just a one-time fee.

Presumably, the licensing process protects consumers; given the information presented this week, aside from ensuring high quality soothsaying services, why else might existing fortune tellers find it in their interest to protect the licensing system? What side effects might the fees introduce into the fortune-telling market?