The minimum wage law is most properly described as a law saying that employers must discriminate against people who have low skills. That’s what the law says.
The law says that here’s a man who has a skill that would justify a wage of $5 or $6 per hour (adjusted for today), but you may not employ him, it’s illegal, because if you employ him you must pay him $9 per hour.
So what’s the result? To employ him at $9 per hour is to engage in charity. There’s nothing wrong with charity. But most employers are not in the position to engage in that kind of charity.
Thus, the consequences of minimum wage laws have been almost wholly bad. We have increased unemployment and increased poverty.
Milton Friedman on raising the minimum wage – the most ‘anti-black law in the land’
01 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, labour economics, minimum wage, Public Choice Tags: Milton Friedman, minimum wage
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments