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Politics : View from the Center and Left
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To: Dale Baker who wrote (744)6/15/2005 1:38:59 AM
From: Peter Dierks  Read Replies (1) of 541674
 
Thanks for the polite inquiry. I sense you support higher minimum wages.

It has been proven that raising the minimum wage causes a recession. I doubt that eliminating it would cause a significant economic expansion. In many markets the minimum wage is only a bar to very marginal employment.

What of the summer employment desires of students? It has been consistently shown that increasing the minimum wage causes a spike in unemployment of non Caucasian males of school age. A smaller spike has been documented among other persons desiring seasonal employment. Is increasing minimum wages discriminatory?

What about people with disabilities that make them unable to compete for jobs at even the minimum wage? Some peoples’s disabilities manifest themselves in reduced productivity. For every Steven Hawking, there are a hundred thousand that are socialized to allow perceptions to limit them. They may qualify for assistance, and be willing to work for half the wages of what people who produce twice what they do earn. Minimum wage makes an arrangement like that illegal.

might end up with more people dividing the same pool of wages (more workers, lower salaries) so you would have to decide if that is a social good or not.

Many markets have developed higher minimum wages based on supply and demand. If wages fell enough in high labor supply markets, people would vote with their feet. Supply and demand are more efficient than government mandates.

Thanks for the thought provoking exchange.
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