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The 20th anniversary of the myth that won’t quit
March 2016 · Michael Saltsman · The Hill Congress Blog
Supporters of a higher minimum wage will gather this Wednesday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Myth and Measurement, a well-known and controversial text on minimum wage policy authored by economists David Card and Alan Krueger. The best-known research contained in its pages is a 1994 study of an increase in New Jersey’s minimum wage, which reached the improbable conclusion that the wage hike had boosted jobs… -
Obama exposes the poison behind the ‘fight for $15’
February 2016 · Michael Saltsman · New York Post
Clearing tables at a restaurant. Working a cash register. Scooping ice cream. These jobs have defined teens’ summer employment opportunities for at least a generation. President Obama last week recalled the lessons he learned working in an ice-cream shop as a young man, and called on other employers to “create summer job opportunities for young people who need them, and extend those opportunities throughout the year.” It’s… -
Is It Time to End Tipping? No: Servers will lose money, and service will suffer
February 2016 · Michael Saltsman · Wall Street Journal
Restaurant owners in some major cities are facing a dilemma: Recent minimum-wage increases are forcing them to give their best-paid employees (servers) a substantial raise, while labor regulations prevent them from sharing any portion of the gratuity left at the end of a perfect meal with the people who actually cooked it. Going tipless is intended as an elegant solution to these problems. By eliminating tips in… -
Oakland’s costly gamble with spiking its minimum wage
February 2016 · Michael Saltsman · OC Register
On March 2, 2015, Oakland raised its minimum wage by 36 percent overnight, from $9 an hour to $12.25. One year later, advocates may be ready to celebrate, but the evidence suggests that their rose-colored predictions of minimum wage benefits haven’t come to pass. The evidence of Oakland’s mistake started appearing early. Soon after the wage hike came into effect, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that 10… -
Raises reduce job opportunities
February 2016 · Michael Saltsman · Philadelphia Inquirer
Gov. Wolf proposed raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage by 41 percent, to $10.15, last week as part of his 2016-17 budget. Perhaps he’s thinking second time lucky. Last year, as part of his first budget, he proposed raising the minimum wage to $10.10. While the nickel-higher proposal is new, the economics of it remain the same. In 2014, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analyzed the effects of a… -
Alabama’s minimum wage misfire
February 2016 · Michael Saltsman · Birmingham News
Birmingham’s City Council shocked the Deep South last year when it approved legislation to increase the city’s minimum wage by nearly 40 percent from $7.25 to $10.10. (The decision was allegedly made to divert attention from a 233% pay raise the Council gave itself.) Now, while Alabama Republicans are considering whether to prevent cities from creating their own wage floors, Democrats are hoping to enact a higher…