Imagine if the software business were like this - that the programmers of the late 40's had formed an American Programmers Association, and it was unlawful for anyone without APA certification to write code for money.

Some people are trying to do this. See for example http://www.colosseumbuilders.com/american.htm [I especially find the "no foreign competition" (aka "no H1-B") disgusting. Tim May notwithstanding, we DO compete with the americans - and a lot of us are better.] Mark