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[lsanderson]

Would cutting the minimum wage raise employment?

It seems that more and more Serious People (and Fox News) are rallying around the idea that if Obama really wants to create jobs, he should cut the minimum wage.

Would cutting the minimum wage raise employment? - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com

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Comments

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Those salaries, though, are not currently set by law. Starting to set them by law is a big change, with big consequences.

We already set the minimum wage by law. The question is, is doing that actually helping people, as intended? Or is it, net, hurting people? Some people are probably paid more because of the minimum wage. Some people are probably unemployed because of the minimum wage (they'd be employed at a rate below the minimum, if it were legal). The question is, how many are there in each group, how much do they gain or lose on the deal, and what's the net benefit?

What jobs pay minimum these days? Waitstaff often, but with tips. What else? Last I checked, fast-food was paying significantly above minimum. Is the minimum wage mostly irrelevant today, because the market has moved real wages higher than the legal minimum? (I think this has changed a lot over the last 20 or 30 years.)

[sethb.livejournal.com]

Why do you want more lawyers?