Is a $15 minimum wage a free lunch? George Mason University Professor Don Boudreaux says no.
In the brand new video below, he points out that minimum wage hikes may sound good in on their face, but in reality they result in job loss because they increase the cost of labor, making low-skilled employees more expensive for employers to hire. This effect is just one of three reasons why raising the minimum wage is a bad idea, says Boudreaux.
Reason number two: Wage hikes disproportionately hurt marginalized groups with the least experience. Inner-city students, immigrants, and other workers on the lower rungs of the economic ladder are deemed most expendable when employers are forced to reduce job opportunities.
Professor Boudreaux concludes that the third reason why raising the minimum wage is a bad idea is because businesses already voluntarily raise wages, on their own, when workers’ productivity rises: 96 percent of American workers today earn an income higher than the minimum wage. They don’t need the government to get raises when their productivity justifies higher pay – and are denied the opportunity by minimum wages to get such productivity-enhancing work experience.