The Minimum Wage Outlaws Jobs

The only relevant issue in the debate about a government mandated minimum wage is: Does it reduce employment opportunities? The debate is not whether some workers will be better off after legal minimums are increased; some workers will. The debate is not whether “consumption” may increase when some workers are paid higher wages; it may, although unemployed workers will consume less. And the debate is not whether “rich” employers can afford to pay higher wages; some surely can, but whether they should be forced to do so by law is another matter entirely.

Defenders of the minimum wage law make two broad claims. The first is that raising the minimum wage does not increase unemployment among the young and poorly skilled, the only relevant labor pool; and two, that there are empirical studies that support the conclusion that higher minimums don’t hurt employment.

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