Some public policy issues are tough. People on all sides of the topic make valid points and there is no absolute, verifiable correct answer. No better or worse. No right or wrong.
The minimum wage is not one of them.
The concept of a minimum wage itself is sheer economic lunacy. Proposals to hike the federally imposed price control on labor are preposterous. That’s why President Barack Obama’s proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour from its current $7.25 is so frustrating.
A minimum wage makes it illegal to pay someone what their labor is actually worth if that amount is less than some silly, arbitrary amount decreed by the government. As a result, people who would make the least-skilled, least-experienced and, thus, least-valuable employees don’t get jobs.
When the government decides to increase its arbitrary minimum wage, smart business owners who care about staying in business more than they care about paying their least-skilled, least-experienced and, thus, least-valuable employees more than they’re worth start handing out pink slips.