“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” — H L Mencken
On July 1, the minimum wage was increased in over 20 states, cities and counties throughout the U.S. At the federal level, there is a proposal to more than double the minimum wage to $15/hour.
It does seem like such a simple solution to low wages: Just pass a law raising them. Indeed, polls have consistently shown that over two-thirds of people favor a mandated higher minimum wage.
But if raising salaries merely entails legislation, why be so stingy? Why not $30/hour, or $300/hour? Why not legislatively make all those low-end workers into millionaires? If it can be done just by a Congressional vote, why not?
When posed that way, supporters of the minimum wage laugh derisively or say that’s ridiculous. And it is. Because it’s obvious that while some few people can command $300/hour, someone flipping burgers at McDonald’s cannot. And if a law were passed requiring that payment level, the fast-food worker wouldn’t get the raise, he’d be out of a job.
It may be less obvious, but it is equally true that not everyone can command $15/ hour either. These are workers with inadequate skill levels or experience. Many are at their first, entry-level jobs or seeking to enter the workforce for the first time (teenagers); many are from disadvantaged backgrounds. The value of labor, like the value of any commodity, is determined by the market forces of supply and demand. That’s why there is a...
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