What if the Minimum Wage Increase Is a Fraud? (New at Reason)
Politicians ignore the economic consequences of central planning and hope voters will reward them for it.
The push to raise the minimum wage to $15 per
hour continues to gain traction, with the governors of both California and New York signing the increases into law this week.
But is it all based on a fraud?
In a new column, Andrew Napolitano asks whether a government-sanctioned increase in employees' hourly salaries will have "profound unintended economic consequences" that will ultimately negatively impact the very people the increase is meant to help. He also asks:
What if the government has fundamental misunderstandings of the way businesses earn money, create wealth and pay salaries? What if the government's mindset is stuck on the governmental economic model? What if that model has no competition, guaranteed revenue and no creation of wealth?
If an increased minimum wage leads to increased unemployment and more expensive goods and services, will voters punish or reward the politicans who made it happen?