-
An Economics Lesson for Joe Biden
July 2013 · Michael Saltsman · The Wall Street Journal
Speaking at the White House on June 25, Vice President Joe Biden claimed that a higher federal minimum wage was practical and long overdue. “Just pay me [for] minimum wage what you paid folks in 1968,” Mr. Biden said, echoing the argument numerous labor unions, left-wing think tanks and activist groups have made. The logic goes something like this: Had the minimum wage tracked inflation since 1968, it would… -
With Interns, Congress Fails to Practice What It Preaches
July 2013 · Michael Saltsman · Orange County Register
This month, federal district judge William Pauley III ruled that Fox Searchlight Pictures was in violation of minimum wage laws by employing unpaid interns on its movie sets. Ironically, some of the minimum wage’s biggest defenders in Congress are this summer staffing their offices with employee interns that don’t receive a cent of compensation or a day of paid time off. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of… -
The Minimum Wage Doesn’t Belong in the State Constitution
July 2013 · Michael Saltsman · The Record & Herald News
THIS FALL, the most important question on the ballot isn’t who should govern the state in Trenton or represent it in Washington, but whether the state constitution should be altered to hike the minimum wage and put it on autopilot to rise in most years thereafter. It’s a radical means of pursuing a debatable public policy — and it sets a dangerous precedent for contentious issues that… -
On Tipped Wage, Berkeley Should Learn From its Neighbors
July 2013 · Michael Saltsman · Contra Costa Times
Berkeley currently is entertaining a proposal to match its neighbors in San Jose and San Francisco with a $10-or-higher hourly minimum wage. Wisely, Mayor Tom Bates offered the modest caveat that such an increase also should account for the tip income earned by restaurant employees such as waiters and waitresses. A loose coalition of labor organizers and academics has offered a barrage of misinformation in an attempt… -
The Minimum Wage: A 75th Anniversary That’s Not Worth Celebrating
June 2013 · Michael Saltsman · Huffington Post
This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin is in a celebratory mood. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, which Harkin chairs, is holding a full committee hearing to honor the federal minimum wage and promote Harkin’s latest effort to boost it to $10.10 an hour, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. But Harkin’s hagiography… -
Ignoring the Obvious in the Minimum Wage Debate
June 2013 · Michael Saltsman · The Hill
It’s an article of faith on the progressive left that mandating new labor costs for employers has no negative impact on the people they employ. Like the handful of people who still believe the universe revolves around the earth, these bitter-enders cling to a handful of outlying studies and ignore the evidence piling up around them. Case in point: A recent op-ed on these pages by Jack Temple of…