In today’s ultra-partisan style of political discourse, I find it refreshing to come across issues that are simply too complex to be apart of any party’s cut-and-dry litmus test of political opinion. The minimum wage is, generously enough, just such an issue. Although it would seem simple enough (D’s: Yes! Living Wage!, R’s: No! Bootstraps Only!), I’ve come to find that my peers’ opinions concerning the minimum wage, regardless of political affiliation, are always more nuanced then expected.
Josh Nava, over at his blog nosce tuus imperium, provides a perfect example of this in his latest editorial “The problem, or lack thereof, with the minimum wage.” In his article, Nava expresses both support for the social safety net (in the form of welfare type programs), yet simultaneously shares his skepticism towards expanding it via an increase in the minimum wage. Nava cites the dissenting voices of the American Enterprise Institute and Congressional Budget Office in his argument, noting their predictions of stymied job growth and the latter institution’s proposal of earned income tax credit’s as a preferred alternative.
Josh Nava, over at his blog nosce tuus imperium, provides a perfect example of this in his latest editorial “The problem, or lack thereof, with the minimum wage.” In his article, Nava expresses both support for the social safety net (in the form of welfare type programs), yet simultaneously shares his skepticism towards expanding it via an increase in the minimum wage. Nava cites the dissenting voices of the American Enterprise Institute and Congressional Budget Office in his argument, noting their predictions of stymied job growth and the latter institution’s proposal of earned income tax credit’s as a preferred alternative.
I find Nava’s argument commendable. Frankly, there are too few left-leaning voices with no sense of centrist-bred economic skepticism. That being said, I personally disagree. I find the matter to have greater social implications.
Raising of the minimum wage dignifies the impoverished workers who rely on it. Brishen Rogers, an Assistant Professor of Law at Temple University’s James E. Beasley School of Law, sums up my view on the matter in a 2014 article for Texas Law Review, stating “Minimum wage laws advance social equality, and do so better than direct transfers, in several ways. They increase workers’ wages, which are a primary measure of the social value of work; they alter workplace power relationships by giving workers rights vis-à-vis employers; and they require employers and consumers to internalize costs of higher wages rather than mediating all distribution through the state.”
Also, I believe the economic problems would remedy themselves. After all, this wouldn’t be our first time raising the minimum wage and feeling its effect on the economy. The egalitarian ethos behind such a move would benefit us much more as a society in the long run.
Raising of the minimum wage dignifies the impoverished workers who rely on it. Brishen Rogers, an Assistant Professor of Law at Temple University’s James E. Beasley School of Law, sums up my view on the matter in a 2014 article for Texas Law Review, stating “Minimum wage laws advance social equality, and do so better than direct transfers, in several ways. They increase workers’ wages, which are a primary measure of the social value of work; they alter workplace power relationships by giving workers rights vis-à-vis employers; and they require employers and consumers to internalize costs of higher wages rather than mediating all distribution through the state.”
Also, I believe the economic problems would remedy themselves. After all, this wouldn’t be our first time raising the minimum wage and feeling its effect on the economy. The egalitarian ethos behind such a move would benefit us much more as a society in the long run.
Still, I’m glad there are multiple voices in the discussion. That’s how political discourse should be.
Rogers, B. (2014). Justice at Work: Minimum Wage Laws and Social Equality. Texas Law Review, 92(6), 1543-1598.
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