In a growing economy the effects of the minimum wage will be harder to see, not so in a slowing economy.
Economics professor Perry writes, “Accoding to BLS data on unemployment rates by age, it looks like almost all of the .50% increase in May unemployment to 5.5% from 5% in April was due to increases […]
Archive for the 'Minimum Wage' Category
Jun9th2008
The Minimum Wage In A Slowing Economy
Published by in Economics, General and Minimum Wage. 0 CommentsApr18th2008
Milton Friedman On Race, Poverty And Government
Published by in Capitalism, Chicanoism, Discrimination, Economics, Education, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues), Minimum Wage, ModernPolitics, Myths, Poverty, Vouchers and affirmative action. 1 CommentYou need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
From an old speech but just as relevant today as it was then.
Oct4th2007
Quote Of The Day
Published by in Economics, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues), Minimum Wage and Myths. 0 Comments“I just read a very interesting article by Thomas C. Leonard, Protecting Family and Race: The Progressive Case for Regulating Women’s Work, which appeared in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology in July 2005. If you’re at all interested in Progressive Era economists’ and reformers’ attitudes toward working women, this article is a must […]
Aug15th2007
The Politics Of Unions
Published by in Economics, General, Minimum Wage, Unions and Wal-Mart. 1 CommentGary Becker, Nobel Laureate in economics, writes:
Unions always favor increases in minimum wages, even when as in this case the minimum only apply to some employers. Any increase in the minimum wage would raise the demand for unionized skilled workers who would substitute for the less skilled employees displaced by the minimum. Unions have […]
May31st2007
Current teenage unemployment rates for April 2007:
All teenagers: 13.3%
Black teenagers: 30.6%
Male black teenagers: 34%
Female black teenagers: 27.4%
More here and here.
Feb6th2007
Jan25th2007
Historically Low Minimum Wage, Historically Low Unemployment
Published by in Economics, General and Minimum Wage. 1 CommentThe Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released its unemployment rate for the year and a look at the report, see here, shows that many states (15 or so) have reached or surpassed their historically lowest unemployment level on record.
Is it a mere coincidence that at a time when the minimum wage is at a […]
Jan24th2007
The Minority Case Against The Minimum Wage
Published by in Discrimination, Economics, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues), Minimum Wage, Personal and Poverty. 1 CommentMost of you have heard the standard arguments against the minimum wage - that it is a weak poverty reduction tool, it increases prices, increases unemployment, hurts small businesses, makes the economy less efficient, etc, etc, but what I want to write about today is the harm done by the minimum wage that is least […]
Jan15th2007
“Politicians like the minimum wage because the cost of financing it is paid by three groups—the workers (in the form of lower employment), employers (in the form of lower profits) and consumers (in the form of higher prices). Missing from that list is taxpayers—so for politicians, if the negative effects are hidden from most voters, […]
Jan8th2007
The Contradictions Of The Minimum Wage
Published by in Economics, General and Minimum Wage. 0 CommentsGreg Mankiw, professor of economics at Harvard University, writes on the contradictions of the minimum wage:
Consider this policy aimed to help workers at the bottom of the income distribution:
1. A wage subsidy for unskilled workers, paid for by
2. A tax on employers who hire unskilled workers.
Now, if you think like an economist, you might wonder […]
Jan5th2007
“The reason I am a Republican is that, compared to Democrats, the Republicans tend to favor smaller government, lower taxes, and greater reliance on free markets. On many social issues, I find myself agreeing with the Democrats more than the Republicans, and I know that the Republicans are far from perfect on economic issues. (Don’t […]
Dec22nd2006
“It seems very likely to me that the small number of people made redundant as a result of a modest minimum wage hike are very likely to be the worst off of the poor: convicted felons, recovering drug addicts, welfare mothers, the cognitively disabled, high school dropouts, those whose backgrounds were too chaotic to impart […]
Dec15th2006
“A recent petition by over 600 economists, including 5 Nobel Laureates in Economics, advocated a phased-in rise in the federal minimum wage to a much higher $7.25 per hour from the present $5.15 per hour. This petition received much attention, and the number of economists signing is impressive (and depressing). Still, the American Economic Association […]
Dec13th2006
Quote Of The Day
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics, General, Minimum Wage, Poverty and Unions. 0 Comments“As a means of raising people from poverty or near poverty, the minimum wage is distinctly inferior to the Earned Income Tax Credit, which compensates for low wages without interfering with the labor market…So why are the Democrats pushing to increase the minimum wage rather than to make EITC more generous? Three reasons can be […]
Dec5th2006
“The most reliable and effective protection for most workers is provided by the existence of many employers. As we have seen, a person who has only one possible employer has little or no protection. The employers who protect a worker are those who would like to hire him. Their demand for his services makes it […]
Nov28th2006
“An increase in the minimum wage has several distinctive negative effects on the economy. While the wages of some low skilled workers would improve, it would reduce employment opportunities for teenagers and other lower skilled workers. They are pushed either into unemployment or the underground economy. A bigger minimum also raises prices of fast foods […]
