MINIMUM WAGE LAWS ARE HARMFUL

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 446

Recently I read a rather revealing article written by Jeffrey A. Tucker in the January 17 to 23, 2024 edition of The Epoch Times entitled “The Sordid History of the Minimum Wage.” My personal view of the Minimum Wage is that each time it is increased by governments it results in about a quarter of the affected workers losing their jobs. Why? Because, truth be told, some people are not yet worth the increased pay. Think of McDonalds, where we used to order our Big Macs from a cashier, and now we order them from a computer. And often the affected workers are young people who are just entering the job market. So let them learn and develop skills and a good work ethic at a lower wage so that they can soon either receive an increase in salary from their current employer, or get a new job and a raise in salary elsewhere. Accordingly, I believe it is far better for society in general to have 100 workers being paid $15 per hour than 75 workers being paid $20 per hour. And, of course, when it comes down to it, only market prices — not legislative prices — can efficiently allocate goods and services.

So what does Mr. Tucker contribute to this conversation? He writes that traditionally established workers have intentionally tried to use minimum wage laws to reduce competition from younger workers. As such, groups like labor unions love minimum wage laws. As Mr. Tucker puts it: “A careful look at its history shows that the minimum wage was originally conceived as part of a eugenics strategy – an attempt to engineer a master race through public policy designed to cleanse the citizenry of undesirables. . . . One hundred years ago, legislating a price floor on wages was a policy deliberately conceived to impoverish the lower classes and the undesirables, and thereby to disincentivize their reproduction.” I am not familiar with this history, but it makes sense. The minimum wage laws invariably help the established workers and harm those who are less so – be them younger people, women or the “undesirables” of the lower classes. In other words, as Mr. Tucker writes in his closing, “(Minimum Wage) benefits existing workers by artificially raising their wages due to supply restriction. Favor that if you want to, but don’t pretend it’s good for the poor.” Truly something to think about – and to share with others!

Question for the week: Have you noticed that “The” and “IRS” spells Theirs?