Minimum Wage

The New York Times posted an editorial about minimum wage : "The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage." Their basic premise is: 

"Decades of research, facts and evidence show that increasing the minimum wageis vital to the economic security of tens of millions of Americans, and would be good for the weak economy. As Congress begins its own debate, here are answers to some basic questions about the need for an increase."

  And is there an alternative, they say: 

"No. Other programs, including Food stamps, Medicaid and the earned-income tax credit, also increase the meager resources of low-wage workers, but they do not provide bargaining power to claim a better wage. " 

An author at The Whited Sepulchre has a good response to the NYT editorial: "The New York Times Should Raise Its Price By 50% Between Now And 2016."  They write: 

"How do you get people to purchase more of something?  According to the New YorkHoly Times, you raise the price.  How do you make yourself more attractive to employers?  Keep raising your requested wage until someone says "I'll hire you".  How do you increase employment?  According to the New York Holy Times, you put an added burden on people who purchase labor.  Good God in heaven...." and states the issue clearly: "I want to be paid as much as possible for my labor.  Employers want to pay as little as possible.  That varies from person to person, industry to industry, and enterprise to enterprise.  And the last humans on earth that I would want to determine that rate?  The New YorkHoly Times Editorial Board, Barack Obama, and the U.S. Congress.  The "perfect" rate will be determined by political considerations, not economic ones. "

 It's all about the politics and the politics of power. The wage earner is very low on the priority chart if he is even on it at all.

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