Today’s Wall Street Journal posted an op-ed of mine titled Minimum Wage, Maximum Politics where I highlight the complexities and negative impact of Obama’s proposal for a sudden federal minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. As the headline indicates, the minimum wage push does not center on creating desperately needed employment opportunities, but in making campaign promises that will help turn out voters in favor of Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.
The reality is, governments don’t create jobs and cannot mandate their way to a healthy economy. As I mention in the op-ed, if government could transform unskilled entry-level positions into middle-income jobs, the Soviet Union would be today’s dominant world economy. Spain and Greece – not to mention California – would be thriving.
A more reasonable approach would be to encourage economic growth which will increase the demand for labor and, therefore, wages. We’ve had over 5 years of policies based on politics and polling. It’s time for a change. To read the full WSJ op-ed, click here.