OK, I'm comfortable saying that I'm a liberal progressive, I
voted for President Obama twice, I believe we need government to regulate the
predatory impulses of the so-called "free market."
But I don't support the idea of a minimum wage law.
According to a fairly basic economic concept, it's
counter-productive to set a floor on the price of anything, including labor, if
it's above whatever level that may be set by supply and demand—any higher price
will reduce demand.
Even if somehow a minimum wage law made economic sense, I
don't think there's any rational way to set a "minimum wage" at the
"right" level to achieve any particular policy purpose you have in
mind. What's the "right" number? No matter how you slice it, any
specific dollar figure for the minimum wage is a wholly arbitrary choice.
Take the current debate.
No matter how you slice it, a law that says an employer
can't pay less than $10.10 per hour means that some employers who would be
willing to hire a new worker at $10.09 per hour might not hire anyone. The
working poor who have jobs will make more per hour....and the working poor who
don't have jobs won't earn anything.
Look, why don't we just set the minimum wage at $30 per hour—do you think that will raise the collective incomes of the working poor?
OK, suppose we make it $29 per hour….think that would be
better?
See what I mean?
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