The Value of a Min Wage Bump

For John, BLUF:  The scary part is that the facts do not overcome the good intentions of Progressives.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Costs of NYC’s $15 Minimum Wage Are Already Visible

Here is the sub-headline:

Until voters recognize that politicians have incentives that are often quite different from their own, we’re likely to continue to see harmful legislation of this kind.

From The Foundation for Economic Education, by FEE's Managing Editor, Mr Jonathan Miltimore, 24 January 2019.

Here is the lede:

New York City’s minimum wage jumped more than 15 percent overnight on January 1, and employers are already cutting workers’ hours as a result.

So, there is the problem.  We have reason to doubt the effectiveness of raising the minimum wage in (1) raising income or (2) creating more jobs.

Here is the view of an economist, Ludwig von Mises, with regard to what is going on.

“No politician is any longer interested in the question whether a measure is fit to produce the ends aimed at,” Mises wrote in The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science.  “What alone counts for him is whether the majority of the voters favor or reject it.”

Politicians, Mises is saying, have incentives quite different from workers.  And incentives matter a lot.

Makes me think of US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex.

At any rate, here is a report from Reason Magazine, "Minimum Wage Hikes in New York City Cause Restaurants to Eliminate Jobs, Cut Hours, Raise Prices".  Here is the sub-headline, "Good intentions do not always lead to good outcomes."

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff