Doing the Minimum | No Mercy / No Malice
At least eighty countries with minimum wage standards mandate that officials revisit them every year or so, but not us. The United States should require periodic (and humane) reviews of the minimum wage.
Matthew Desmond • Poverty, by America
The chronic stress that accompanies poverty can be detected at the cellular level. One study found that up to 5,500 premature deaths that occurred in New York City from 2008 to 2012 could have been prevented if the city’s minimum wage had been $15 an hour during that time, instead of just over $7. A higher minimum wage is an antidepressant. It is a
... See moreMatthew Desmond • Poverty, by America
George Stigler, a thirty-five-year-old economist at the University of Minnesota. Inflation had diluted the 40-cent minimum wage, and people were calling for an increase to 60 or even 75 cents an hour, which translates to $9.51 and $11.88 in June 2022 dollars. “Economists have not been very outspoken on this type of legislation,” Stigler wrote. “It
... See moreMatthew Desmond • Poverty, by America
raising the minimum wage, expanding early childhood education, capping executive pay, strengthening unions, and increasing paid parental leave.
Keith Payne • The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Changes the Way We Think, Live and Die
... See moreAmerica cannot redistribute its way to prosperity. Aggressively raising taxes on the wealthy by 1.5% of GDP ($5 trillion over the decade) and redistributing those funds equally to every American would provide just $1,500 per person annually. Certainly helpful, but no substitute for the rising incomes produced by strong economic growth.
Thus, revenue