A look at an article from @Mises: “The Problem with Guilds: They're Monopolistic and Wasteful” by Lipton Matthews.

In the year 2022, modern day people know a bit about oppressive monopolies (tech giants and government medical overseers, we’re looking at both of you). During the medieval period in both Europe and Africa, guilds were part of a monopolistic system, evermore entrenching power for the elites of societies.

The repetition of history shows: monopolies have no staying power without backing from governments (I.E., power from an overarching state). For example, in Europe, “Working in tandem with political elites, guilds were frequently insulated from competition.”

How did this happen?
1) Fees.
Think of modern-day licensing fees. https://ij.org/report/license-to-work-2/report/ranking-the-occupations/
"Not only did the monarchy rely on guilds to obtain political mileage, they were also a source of income for the crown, since membership in a guild was acquired after paying a hefty fee.”
2) Lack of education.
Think of modern-day low-quality education, even at university levels. https://www.newsweek.com/college-value-critical-thinking-test-621671
“Quite shockingly, it appears that junior members were inadequately instructed, as Ogilvie observes: 'Second, the sealers lacked the requisite knowledge for detecting low-quality work. No pretense was made of appointing skilled or experienced masters as sealers.”'
3) Enforced ignorance.
Think of information from the American Medical Association regarding hydroxychloroquine enforced by the threat of losing the required pharmaceutical license https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/2020-04/board-of-pharmacy-covid-19-prescribing.pdf
“[Sheilagh] Ogilvie debunks [guilds’] perceived efficiency by noting that one disgruntled member bemoaned the paucity of quality training to such an extent that he petitioned to be released from his office, '“on the grounds that the sealing takes place very badly, and when one says anything about it one incurs great enmity.”'
4) Lack of elite accountability due to legal protection.
Think of powerful and untouchable government employees such as Dr. Anthony Fauci. By what [enforced] law does the populace indict and convict a government protected person? None. That task is left up to “representatives of the people” who are oftentimes paid by (or receive donations from) powerful corporations such as Pfizer Inc. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pfizer-unions-others-donated-618-mln-bidens-inaugural-2021-04-21/
“The common people in Benin were organized into occupational groups of craftsmen and professionals who supplied the Oba’s (Yoruba name for king) specific needs in return for monopoly rights from the Oba in their various trades…To protect themselves from vilification, craftsmen had an incentive to render free services to the Oba at the expense of their business.”
5) The state provides its protection with monopolistic and ever-present threat of violence.
https://www.projectveritas.com/news/military-documents-about-gain-of-function-contradict-fauci-testimony-under/
“[the French] the monarchy sought to ensure its primacy over manufacturing and trade (arts de métiers), and thus over matters of guild regulation—matters of great interest to its newly created police.”
6) Appropriating money, and what could become capital, for ordinary citizens.
Think of the Biden – Burisma Holdings Ltd. scandal that ultimately resulted in the cancellation of jobs from the terminated Keystone XL Pipeline project. https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/05/democrat_projectionists.html and https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad/
“…from an economic standpoint, it is evident that in the former, the appropriative nature of political elites would have slowed growth by depriving traders of vital resources to aid capital formation, and in the latter, guilds can be construed as an extension of the Oba’s household.”

Ultimately, Matthews concluded, “Certainly, more research is needed for Africa, but the current evidence suggests that on average guilds have not been a boost to the economy.”

~ Lipton Matthews @MatthewsLipton of @Mises
https://mises.org/wire/problem-guilds-theyre-monopolistic-and-wasteful

See Slideshow of Images Below:

1) Duke Johann Friedrich of Württemberg. Landesmuseum Württemberg.
Attribution: Unidentified painter, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
2) Traditional wrought-iron guild sign of a glazier, in Germany.
Datei ist unter der Creative-Commons-Lizenz, Namensnennung – Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 2.0 Deutschland“ lizenziert.
3) Schuhmacher-1568
de:Eygentliche Beschreibung aller Stände auff Erden, hoher und nidriger, geistlicher und weltlicher, aller Künsten, Handwercken und Händeln ..." / from Jost Amman and Hans Sachs / Frankfurt am Main / 1568 / thanks to www.digitalis.uni-koeln.de
{{PD-US}}
4) The Syndics of the Drapers' Guild by Rembrandt, 1662.
Attribution: Rembrandt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
5) Coats of arms of guilds in a town in the Czech Republic displaying symbols of various European medieval trades and crafts.
Attribution: VitVit, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
6) Benin’s Oba and Olori, and frieze of military generals.
https://www.thecoli.com/threads/what-was-africa-like-before-colonialism-any-documentaries-or-books-you-can-recommend.736800/
7) Oba Esigie of Benin
https://www.thecoli.com/threads/what-was-africa-like-before-colonialism-any-documentaries-or-books-you-can-recommend.736800/