The Wall

[BananaStand]

Isn't this market forces deciding?

Not really,. Not if those market forces have been tainted by criminal activity. Jose's employer has unfair leverage over him, that depresses his wage artificially. As I said, I prefer to combat the forces that create unfairness in the market place (ie. Illegal Immigration), and then leave the rest up to the market.

If you can find a person who is willing to do a job for $2 and can do so, say some low skill stuff like cleaning floors, but also higher skill stuff like implementing a database (outsource to India), they will employ the lower cost person always. What's there to stop them?

The question is....why is that person willing to do the job for $2. If it's because they are illegal, underage, in a protected class, or disabled, then there are other remedies for those problems. Employing illegal and underage workers is a crime. As is discriminating against the disabled or other protected classes.

Or, if a person is just desperate and willing to work for cheap, then that is a symptom of a labor market that has become too competitive. In other words, unemployment is high. That's indicative of much larger economic problems that won't be solved through a minimum wage.

In a healthy economy, it's an employee's market. Employers compete for talent, and that keeps wages up.

Again, I realize that the minimum wage sort of works. And ending a minimum wage is not a crusade I'm particularly passionate about. Most part-time entry level jobs that I see advertised in my area already pay well over the federal minimum wage, so it's really a moot policy.

I could sort of get behind the idea of a minimum wage on the state/municipal level. If workers in those particular communities want to exercise the democratic process and implement a minimum wage...I guess I'm ok with it. however, I do see the potential for perversion as some highly liberal municipalities have already chosen to drastically jack up the minimum wage.

Like I said, pay attention to Portland, OR. It will be interesting to see how simple things, like the price of a pizza, will be affected as they implement a significant hike to the minimum wage over the next few years.