Free Republic

the devastating effects of minimum wage laws ... Today's overall teenage (16-19) unemployment rate, at 25 percent, is the highest since World War II. Black teenage unemployment, at 50 percent, is also the highest since World War II. How do you think the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton would explain the unemployment difference between black and white teens? You can bet the rent money they would say: It's racial discrimination. Let's investigate. Was racial discrimination in 1948 greater or less than racial discrimination today? In 1948, the unemployment rate for white 16-17 year olds was 10.2 percent while that for blacks...

Bronx advocates said that the City Council vote on Monday to reject a $310 million project to build a mall inside the Kingsbridge Armory provided an opportunity to come up with a more community-oriented plan for the massive red-brick castle. City Council members who voted down the project 45 to 1, with one abstention, said that the plan, proposed by the Related Companies, would have created hundreds of jobs that would have paid at or around the state’s minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, pay that they called too low to support local families. They wanted Related to pledge that...

Gov. Paterson's poll ratings may be poor, but that's no reason for him to try to buy union support with a bill that would destroy jobs. Alas, that seems to be his thinking in promoting legislation to force developers and landlords at state-assisted projects to pay workers, essentially, union scale. Salaries at such projects would have to be in line with "prevailing wages" -- i.e., union wages. In New York City, that would be a hefty $19.20 an hour -- nearly three times the $7.25 minimum wage. And, again, the bill would cover not just construction workers on a project...

In a bid to shore up his relations with labor unions, Gov. David A. Paterson is readying legislation that would require developers to pay prevailing wages on many construction projects that receive public financing, meaning that construction workers would have to be paid significantly more than minimum wage. The legislation, which has the business community alarmed, would also impose wage requirements on large businesses that use space created by developments financed with public money, according to a draft of the bill. In New York City, those requirements would be $19.20 an hour — nearly three times the minimum wage —...

In January 2009, as Obama unveiled his plans for economic recovery, he assured the Congress and the American people that, if we would just agree to set up a $787 billion slush fund for him to play with, he would fix our sick economy and that the unemployment rate would never exceed 8 percent. With a straight face, and with words that came straight from his teleprompter, he vowed that he would accomplish something that no man, and no government, has ever accomplished before: he would halt the downward spiral of the economy and stimulate economic growth, and he would...

The Young and the Jobless The minimum wage hike has driven the wages of teen employees down to $0.00. Yesterday's September labor market report was lousy by any measure, with 263,000 lost jobs and the jobless rate climbing to 9.8%. But for one group of Americans it was especially awful: the least skilled, especially young workers. Washington will deny the reality, and the media won't make the connection, but one reason for these job losses is the rising minimum wage. Earlier this year, economist David Neumark of the University of California, Irvine, wrote on these pages that the 70-cent-an-hour increase...

Thinking has become so emotional and so politically biased on the subject of wages that in most discussions of them the plainest principles are ignored. People who would be among the first to deny that prosperity could be brought about by artificially boosting prices, people who would be among the first to point out that minimum price laws might be most harmful to the very industries they were designed to help, will nevertheless advocate minimum wage laws, and denounce opponents of them, without misgivings. Yet it ought to be clear that a minimum wage law is, at best, a limited...

As the consumer pricing index continues to fall, the State of Colorado will become the first state since 1938 to lower it's minimum wage. The state Department of Labor and Employment ordered the wage down from $7.28 to $7.24. That's lower than the federal minimum wage of $7.25, so the de facto decline will be to the Fed minimum. It will be the first decrease in any state since the federal minimum wage law was passed in 1938. Note the year, 1938. As Bob Murphy pointed out in his book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the...

Based on the data, the current job situation for teenagers in America is the worst on record. According to Uncle Sam's Bureau of Labor Statistics: Seasonally adjusted teenage unemployment hit 25.9%. That is the highest rate in the nearly 62 years BLS has been reporting this number. The previous record was last month's 25.5%. The record before that was 24.1% in November and December of 1982. A graphic of the complete history of the teenage unemployment rate that will open in a new window is here. Unemployment among black teens not enrolled in school is over 50%. The rate among...

The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52.2 percent -- a post-World War II high, according to the Labor Dept. -- meaning millions of Americans are staring at the likelihood that their lifetime earning potential will be diminished and, combined with the predicted slow economic recovery, their transition into productive members of society could be put on hold for an extended period of time. And worse, without a clear economic recovery plan aimed at creating entry-level jobs, the odds of many of these young adults -- aged 16 to 24, excluding students -- getting a job and moving...

t's Labor Day, but there's nothing to celebrate. On July 24 this year, the government raised the minimum wage to $7.25, which is another way of saying that unemployment is mandatory for anyone who is otherwise willing to work for less. You have no freedom to negotiate or lower the price for your service. You are either already valuable at this rate or you are out of the game.

Yesterday's Employment Situation Report from Uncle Sam's Bureau of Labor Statistics had lots of dismal news. One of the bigger disappointments, but sadly not one of the bigger surprises, is that the teenage unemployment rate reached an all-time seasonally adjusted high of 25.5%. People who know even a little bit about economics should understand why, but an oddly titled New York Times blog post by Catherine Rampall took a pass on realistically trying to explain it: Oh What a Time to Be Young! Pity the unemployed, but especially pity the teenage unemployed. According to today’s job report, the overall unemployment...

USA Today is attempting to pass off an effort to push a higher minimum wage law as an effort by "churches" when in reality it is a left wing effort sponsored by ACORN, unions and the extremist group American Progress headed by former Clinton front man, John Podesta. With a misleading headline and an artfully vague first paragraph, USA Today tries to make this effort seem to be headed up by churches and religious figures. The headline, "Churches push for $10 minimum wage by 2010," pins this effort squarely on churches even as the first paragraph walks that claim back...

Ever wish you could rap with the president? Here's your chance - an imaginary conversation in an occasional series. Quotation marks indicate actual words Barack Obama has used. Mr. President, thanks for the opportunity. Happy to do it. What's on your mind? Could we start with health care? You've said you want a plan providing improved care for reduced cost, and extending health insurance coverage to perhaps 50 million more Americans. You also want a taxpayer-financed public option to private insurance. I set an August deadline that obviously will be missed. But it will happen, as Madame Pelosi has said...

The last thing we need in the midst of our current recession is what happened last Friday: the third increase in the minimum wage in only two years. Contemporary labor markets throughout the country are not a pretty picture. Last month’s national unemployment rate was 9.5 percent. In the most directly affected markets—those for younger and lower-skilled workers—things were even worse. The teen unemployment rate was over 22 percent; its highest rate in over 17 years. The unemployment rate for black teens rose to 38 percent. Forty-eight states reported job losses in May alone. This clearly indicates that in a...

With all of the talk of the economic recovery tailspin engendered by the Obambi administration, one government mandate has slipped under the radar with relatively little fanfare. This is an increase in the federally mandated minimum-wage up to $7.25 per hour. It is the latest in three hikes in the minimum wage, dating from two years ago: the minimum wage was raised to $5.85 per hour on July 24, 2007; to $6.55 / hour on July 24 2008; and finally to $7.25 / hour last week. The knee-jerk reactions to this, from the left, are predictable. The Obambi administration is...

LANSING – The Michigan Democratic Party today announced ballot questions it will be considering placing on the November 2010 general election ballot. They include: * Mandating all employers to provide affordable health care for their employees and dependents or pay a penalty. * Raising the minimum wage from $7.40/hour to $10/hour and covering all workers with no exceptions. * Increasing unemployment benefits by $100/week, making all workers eligible and adding six months to the time one can receive benefits. * Cutting utility rates by 20%. * Imposing a one-year moratorium on home foreclosures. “People of Michigan should be asking their...

Here is a video report about the Federal Minimum Wage Hike that took effect yesterday, July 24, 2009. The 70 cents per hour hike, now up to $7.25 per hour, is likely to result in more job losses and higher unemployment as small businesses struggle to survive. The report talks to one small business owner, and to an advocate for low-wage earners who is just clueless about economics. She actually thinks the hike will stimulate the economy because workers will go out and spend that extra 70 cents an hour. Problem is - they can't spend it if they don't...

So today the minimum wage goes up by government mandate. What a time for celebration, right? What wonderful compassion is being show by our government, right? We have no idea whether any workers will actually make more money as a result. But consider what is really happening today that we know for sure: A: Small business owners just took a pay cut. B: Some hourly workers will get less hours. C: Some hourly workers will get laid off. D: Some union contracts just got raised. E: None of the businesses affected will have one more penny in sales volume as...

An estimated 2.8 million employees will get a raise on Friday, as the federal minimum wage rises from $6.55 an hour to $7.25. Another 1.6 million whose hourly pay hovers around $7.25 are also expected to get a boost as employers adjust their pay scales to the new minimum. The raise is badly needed. It is also wholly inadequate. With the latest increase, the minimum wage is still no higher now, after inflation, than it was in the early 1980s, and it is 17 percent lower than its peak in 1968. That means that no matter how hard they work,...

For the third time in three years, the state minimum wage will increase today to keep with a staggered, federally-mandated pay increase schedule. All employees currently earning the minimum $6.55 an hour will see their earnings increase by 70 cents to $7.25 an hour starting today. The mandatory pay increase is the third and final step in a graduated minimum wage hike approved by the federal government several years ago. For employees like George Sprouse of Kerrville, who works one full-time minimum wage job and another part-time, the pay increase will be beneficial. “Seventy cents an hour makes a big...

A federal minimum wage increase that takes effect Friday could prolong the recession, some economists say, by forcing small businesses to lay off the same workers that the pay hike passed in better times was meant to help. The increase to $7.25 means 70 cents more an hour for the lowest-paid workers in the 30 states that have lower minimums or no minimum wage. It also means higher costs for employers who feel they've already trimmed all their operating fat. ''How will they absorb the increase?'' said Rajeev Dhawan, director of Georgia State University's Economic Forecasting Center. ''They will either...

The federal government is trying to strengthen the U.S. auto industry. So here's a great idea for what it can do: Tell the Big Three to raise their prices across the board. That would help in some obvious ways. Higher prices would mean bigger profit margins on every sale. Bigger profits would mean more jobs. More jobs would mean more workers buying new American cars. But anyone can see that raising prices wouldn't work, because it would dry up sales. If American consumers were willing to pay more for American cars, dealers would already be charging higher prices. This is...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The minimum wage in the United States will increase on July 24, as part of a multi-year law raising the amount paid to American workers. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, which has been steadily raising the federal minimum wage, will effect its last and final change when it bumps the pay up to $7.25 per hour. A family with a full-time minimum wage earner would see its monthly income increase by about $120, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The increase will effect workers in 30 states where either the statewide rate is below...

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Higher wages are on the way for those making the minimum. On July 24, minimum wage is going up by seventy cents to $7.25 an hour. Even though it's not even a buck, in a 40-hour week that adds up to 28 more dollars. An almost $30 raise for all employees is giving some businesses a headache. Waiting for ice cream on a hot summer day. Customers come to Rosewood Dairy Bar for a number of reasons. The workers like to think it's because of the low prices, and that's something they don't want to change,...

In a free market, demand is always a function of price: the higher the price, the lower the demand. What may surprise most politicians is that these rules apply equally to both prices and wages. When employers evaluate their labor and capital needs, cost is a primary factor. When the cost of hiring low-skilled workers moves higher, jobs are lost. Despite this, minimum wage hikes, like the one set to take effect later this month, are always seen as an act of governmental benevolence. Nothing could be further from the truth...

Federal wage floor will rise to $7.25 an hour on July 24. Hike will be felt in 29 states. Can the job market handle it? The federal minimum wage is set to increase later this month as the job market shows signs of further decay. The federal minimum wage will go to $7.25 an hour on July 24 from its current level of $6.55, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The impact will be felt in 29 states, and many of them plan to match the federal minimum when it goes through. Seven states already have laws mandating $7.25...

The federal minimum wage is set to increase later this month as the job market shows signs of further decay. The federal minimum wage will go to $7.25 an hour on July 24 from its current level of $6.55, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The impact will be felt in 29 states, and many of them plan to match the federal minimum when it goes through.

AS IF the recession hasn’t been rough enough on those near the bottom of the economic food chain, fresh bad news is on the way. Beginning July 24, the federal government will be making it more difficult for employers to hire low-skilled and unskilled American workers. Thanks to an ill-advised law enacted with bipartisan support in 2007, the cost of providing an entry-level job to individuals with few skills or minimal experience will be going up by more than 10 percent. Those who cannot find a job paying at least $7.25 an hour will not be permitted to work. Welcome...

JULY 6, 2009 Minimum-Wage Increase Comes at a Bad Time for Weakened Job Market By KRIS MAHER The federal minimum wage goes up this month just as job losses are sending new alarms about the economy, giving traction to perennial fears that higher wages will hurt job creation. In the past, minimum-wage increases have done little to dent job creation. And pouring more money into people's pockets -- especially low-wage workers who are likely to spend the increase to meet living costs -- would normally boost the economy. But these aren't normal times. "It's tough timing," said John Silva, chief...

Despite severe economic difficulties confronting businesses, and soaring unemployment among youths and minorities, the federal minimum wage is slated to increase to $7.25 in July from $6.55 today. This will be the final step of a three-step increase enacted in the spring 2007, when the unemployment rate was 4.5%. Based on 20 years of research, I doubt there is ever a good time to raise the minimum wage. However, with the aggregate unemployment rate at 9.4%, the teen unemployment rate exceeding 22%, and the unemployment rate for black teens nearing 40%, next month's increase seems like the worst timing possible....

There’s no better illustration of the unintended consequences of "benevolent" economic policy-making than events in American Samoa, an archipelago in the South Pacific that is a territory of the United States and so falls within the purview of Congress. Chicken of the Sea, the tuna company, has just announced the closing of its canning plant in American Samoa in September. The chief culprit is 2007 legislation in Washington that gradually increased the islands' minimum wage until it reaches $7.25 an hour, effective July 2009, almost double the 2007 levels. So, this summer, some of the 68,000 residents of this United...

When a bill to raise the federal minimum wage is under consideration conservatives argue it will lead to unemployment especially among teenagers trying to enter the workforce for the first time. Liberals always scoffed at this and vote for these increases anyway. Soon after the effective date of these increases teenage unemployment increases and stays higher than previous levels. Liberals say teen employment rates are not accurate measures of the results of these increases and the issue disappears from any mention in the media. Teenage unemployment is a straw man non issue and liberals know this, but with today’s high...

President Obama is poised to sign the "national service" bill. This will more than triple the size of Bill Clinton's creation, AmeriCorps, from 75,000 to 250,000 enrollees, after already being expanded by President Bush. The AP reports that the bill passed Congress with broad bipartisan support. The bill was co-sponsored and championed by Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Categories of service include anti-poverty, education, energy and environment, health care and veterans' assistance. For those keeping track, these priorities dovetail nicely with the Communist Party USA's platform as I have previously tabulated. 1.5 Increase low income energy assistance, ... 2.1 Enact massive public...

Alaska is reeling from the drop in oil prices and rising unemployment. If Gov. Sarah Palin is going to be the conservative leader of the future, how she navigates the economic crisis in Alaska will be a proving ground of sorts. America will be watching to see if she has the courage to implement the conservative policies she advocated on the campaign trail.

If Democrats consistently tried to defy the law of gravity, voters would have an easier time recognizing them for the fools that they are. But the fact that the laws they seek to defy aren't universally acknowledged (for political reasons), doesn't make the effects of their policies any less harmful, or any less foreseeable. Say Anything Blog nailed this one way back in July: Minimum Wage Goes Up Today, Unemployment Rate For Low Wage Workers To Follow Today the minimum wage goes up again, and you’ll hear from grandstanding politicians and leftist reporters that this amounts to a raise for...

If Democrats consistently tried to defy the law of gravity, voters would have an easier time recognizing them for the fools that they are. But the fact that the laws they seek to defy aren't universally acknowledged (for political reasons), doesn't make the effects of their policies any less harmful, or any less foreseeable. Say Anything Blog nailed this one way back in July: Minimum Wage Goes Up Today, Unemployment Rate For Low Wage Workers To Follow Today the minimum wage goes up again, and you’ll hear from grandstanding politicians and leftist reporters that this amounts to a raise for...

Wisconsin's minimum wage would increase $1.10 per hour under a bill passed by the state Senate. Republicans and a variety of business groups oppose the increase, which they say would put people out of work and hurt companies that don't have enough money to pay higher wages.

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin's minimum wage would increase $1.10 per hour under a bill passed by the state Senate. Republicans and a variety of business groups oppose the increase, which they said would put people out of work and hurt companies that don't have enough money to pay higher wages.

Democrats tasteless at inauguration Letter to the Editor Posted: 01/31/2009 12:00:00 AM PST How utterly tasteless for Democrats to boo President Bush at the inauguration. The entire world leaned backwards to make this day one of triumphs for them. Have Republicans ever done this?The least Democrats could have done was to remain silent, as those who wished to cheer President Bush for seven years with no terrorist attacks upon us did so. They showed no respect for the Bush family either.Obama has promised transparency. Let's start with Nancy Pelosi, one of Bush's most caustic critics.Her district includes San Francisco. Star Kist...

Parents of children at Learning Tree Child and Family Center in East Bremerton have been scrambling to find alternate child care since Wednesday, when they learned the center would close within the week. -snip About 85 percent of the center's clients receive child care subsidies through the state Department of Social and Health Services. Enrollment at the center has declined as the recession worsened, slicing into an already "razor thin" operating budget, according to Robin Henderson, board president of the nonprofit facility. Enrollment had dropped to around 90 since September, though the center could accommodate 120 kids. -snip Board members...

One of the things that first attracted me to economics is that its logic leads us sometimes to counterintuitive conclusions. A perfect example of this is the regulated workplace. The minimum wage raises incomes for some workers and lowers incomes for others. Workplace safety regulations advantage those who are very risk averse at the expense of those who are willing to accept higher risks in exchange for higher incomes. Laws against "child labor" benefit the relatively well off at the expense of the needy. The tragic irony of the regulated workplace is that it most adversely affects those on the...

“Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent.” - Jim Quinn It was January of 2007 when the House passes the first minimum wage increase in a decade. Senate Republicans added a ton of tax breaks to small businesses to the minimum wage increase before passing it in February. They bickered back and forth for a month or three, then finally attached the bill to a war spending bill and Bush signed it into law. I was against it, saying first of all it was unConstitutional. I also said it would cost jobs, because businesses could either raise...

In this book, David Neumark and William Wascher offer a comprehensive overview of the evidence on the economic effects of minimum wages. Synthesizing nearly two decades of their own research and reviewing other research that touches on the same questions, Neumark and Wascher discuss the effects of minimum wages on employment and hours, the acquisition of skills, the wage and income distributions, longer-term labor market outcomes, prices, and the aggregate economy. Arguing that the usual focus on employment effects is too limiting, they present a broader, empirically based inquiry that will better inform policymakers about the costs and benefits of...

Mayor David Coss says Santa Fe's minimum wage will increase from $9.50 an hour to $9.92 an hour beginning Jan. 1.~~snip~~ The Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce had asked councilors to delay the increase due to the slumping economy, saying some businesses would not be able to afford the higher wage.~~snip~~~ Simon Brackley, president of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, said he spoke to one chamber member who employs young people seasonally. He said the minimum wage increase would force that business owner to close.

OH YEAH -- CHANGE IS COMING! The election of Barack Obama has some employers quaking in their boots. Look into the crystal ball and prepare for dramatic changes in employment law and labor activity from unions to sick leave to ergonomics. Employers can expect to see more new workplace regulations than at any time in the last two decades. The Democrats are teeing up several bills and some issues demand attention immediately. Unions -- One issue looms far above all the others for Alabama Employers -- the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Obama supports the Employee Free Choice Act. This...

Despite the federal government's growing economic dominance, individual states still exercise substantial freedom in pursuing their own economic fortune -- or misfortune. As a result, the states provide a laboratory for testing various policies. In this election year, the experience of the states gives us some ability to look at the economic policies of the two presidential candidates in action... Ranking states by domestic migration, per-capita income growth and employment growth, ALEC found that from 1996 through 2006, Texas, Florida and Arizona were the three most successful states. Illinois, Ohio and Michigan were the three least successful.The rewards for success...

I wonder if there is a group of homeless who would work for $3,000? Probably. Thus, if there was no mnimum wage, you wouldn't see goats working for what truly destitue people need, money...

Teenage workers are disappearing from the U.S. workforce. Something appears to have happened to drive them out of the workforce in large numbers. Phil Miller and Doc Palmer say that the recent mandated hikes in the minimum wage very likely has something to do with the teenagers getting disappeared, but no one in the media is willing to finger them as a promising culprit behind the workplace disappearances. Could they be right? To find out, we went straight to the source: the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What we did was to take the BLS' report on the Characteristics of Minimum...

The federal minimum wage rose by 70 cents yesterday to $6.55 per hour, and left-wing advocates are celebrating the increase as a boon for the so-called working poor. Not to be party poopers, but the reality is that most poor people in the U.S. already earn more than the minimum wage, and most workers who do earn the minimum wage aren't poor. The wage hike is the second of three annual increases mandated by a 2007 law. Next year the federal wage floor will rise to $7.25. This year's increase will touch some 1.5 million workers, in a workforce numbering...