I think the two are rather intimately related (and agree with
@SIY on the licensing side). Much of the reason for the "casual dismissal of academic study" has very little to do with the aspects you are considering. The problem isn't with formal academics
nor required licensing per se - it's with the relatively meaningless nature of both. And with the constant expansion of what the modern definition of "academic" is IMO.
I'm sure
@SIY has been significantly impacted (as have I) with the dilemma of being forced to make a choice between competence and experience (but "inadequate" or expired credentialing) and incompetent or inexperienced (but fresh off the production line with all the stickers to show for it) employees/contractors.
Your arguments are ridiculous due to their exaggerated nature... of course, no one wants their cardiac bypass done by a non-board-certified surgeon. However, if you want to get a prescription for antibiotics due to a sinus infection... a PA will do just fine (if it weren't for the prescription part of the deal... a nurse on her first day would work) - in fact, they would do
better... since the wait time for that surgeon is likely weeks out. Naturally you want the engineer who's signing off on that bridge (which thousands will drive on) to be not only certified... but have decades of experience. However, you don't need that if all you're looking for is a window put in a tool-shed.
The problem as discussed in the OP is farther reaching than even that. There are dozens of various certifications in a variety of fields which include the term "engineer" - I was once an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer)... but I technically under these guidelines couldn't put that on a business card (now I wouldn't even want to... but that's another matter). If someone went through 4 years of school (or more) and got a degree in electrical engineering... they are an
engineer. Sure if they're working on telemetry and navigation controls on a nuke... I would want them to be required to have much, much more certification than that. But if I just need a compact USB interface added to a DAP I'm manufacturing... I shouldn't be forced to restrict my hiring and at the same time pay the "privilege tax" for those hours - just so some bureaucratic add-on can collect their pound of flesh.
TL;DR - Education and certification are
definitely very important... but
experience and
competency (and maturity) are not
necessarily proven by the number of forms one has filled out or fees one has paid. Results are a better indicator than anything... just ask all those who hired fully "papered" doctors, lawyers, etc. who were killed/injured, had mishandled cases or wrongful convictions, etc. What you do and how you do it is
always more important than what title you have or where you got it from - IME at least.