NYT editorial: The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage

[pampango]

3. Great editorial. Thanks for posting it, ProSense.

Decades of research, facts and evidence show that increasing the minimum wage is vital to the economic security of tens of millions of Americans, and would be good for the weak economy. As Congress begins its own debate, here are answers to some basic questions about the need for an increase.

When low-end wages rise, poverty and inequality are reduced. But that doesn’t mean the minimum wage is a government program to provide welfare, as critics sometimes imply in an attempt to link it to unpopular policies. An hourly minimum of $10.10, for example, as Democrats have proposed, would reduce the number of people living in poverty by 4.6 million, according to widely accepted research, without requiring the government to tax, borrow or spend.

And we all know the republican response will be "But raising the minimum wage will cause unemployment." This has just enough 'logic' in it (the ol' "if something is more expensive you get less of it&quot to convince those who want to believe despite &quot d)ecades of research, facts and evidence show that increasing the minimum wage is vital to the economic security of tens of millions of Americans, and would be good for the weak economy." At least they are predictable.