You are right on. (Rarife #11). I can identify only one group that benefits from the 1500 hour rule in the US and that is the senior pilots at ALPA who are adept at lobbying Congress (that passed the law concerned). I assume they wanted to make themselves more valuable (and get more money as a result) by tightening up the supply. I hope they did not mean it to go this far but it has and the damage is far-reaching and extensive. As usual, the supply of pilots will be cyclic and because the rise in demand has been meteoric, the drop will also be such. As so many smaller companies go bankrupt there will suddenly be no jobs.
It might be a good time to enter the field, but if so, better be quick!