The Economy: Agitation over the Minimum Wage

There is pressure across the country for a rise in the federal minimum wage. Unlike some states that have passed their own laws, ‘free market’ Indiana has kept wages low. As described by Dan Carpenter in the Indianapolis Star, Indiana’s republican lawmakers have managed to suppress economic growth as well as the minimum wage: “Low-income families may get heartfelt prayers from Indiana’s GOP-dominated government, but they’re not likely to get their wages discussed as a legislative issue in the foreseeable future.”

Loaves and Fishes

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1 Comment

1. Brock Haussamen:
   January 9th, 2006 @ 11:43 am

   Carpenter’s article puts its finger on quite a few of the obstacles to raising minimum wages. One is the strength of the business lobby (poor workers get union support for a minwage increase, but they’re not union workers themselves generally, and they don’t hire their own lobbyists). Another is the deceptiveness of some statistics: the reason that relatively few workers earn exactly the minimum wage today is that it is very low, but the number of workers who earn, say, between $5.15 and $6.15 is in the millions. Finally, as Carpenter points out, Oregon’s growing economy belies the conservative complaint that a minimum wage kills small businesses–and Oregon’s wage goes up each year!
   For those interested, see my Web site on “Raising the National Minimum Wage: Information, Opinion, Research” at http://www.raiseminwage.org.

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