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Dude: Where’s My Summer Job
July 2008 · Kristen Lopez Eastlick · Madison, WI, State Journal; also ran in San Antonio Express News, Colorado Springs Gazette, and the Washington Examiner
Finals week is over; summer is here. And thanks to misguided politicians, your teenager is more likely to be sitting in front of the television than waiting tables or scooping ice cream. This year, it’s harder than ever for teens to find a summer job. Researchers at Northeastern University described summer 2007 as “the worst in post-World War II history” for teen summer employment, and those same… -
Minimum wage hurts teen job-seekers
June 2008 · Kristen Eastlick · San Antonio Express-News
Summer is here. And thanks to misguided politicians, Texas teens are more likely to be sitting in front of the TV than waiting tables or scooping ice cream. This year, it?s harder than ever for teens to find a summer job. Researchers at Northeastern University described summer 2007 as the worst in post-World War II history for teen summer employment, and those same researchers say that 2008… -
A plan to batter Rhode Island’s Economy
June 2008 · Kristen Lopez Eastlick · Providence Journal
Say you own a small-town bakery. One morning you see in the news that local legislators have passed a new regulation raising the cost of flour by a buck a pound every year. What’s the first thing that you’d do to cut costs? Fire your worst-performing employees? Cut back on flour for your crowd-pleasing doughnuts? Move somewhere else? Start selling hamburgers? Probably some combination of the above.… -
Soaring minimum wages drive out R.I. jobs
April 2008 · Adam Schaeffer · Providence Journal
WITH RHODE ISLAND facing its largest state budget deficit in almost two decades — an estimated $384 million for the next fiscal year — it’s no wonder a wave of protesters washed over the State House last month with their demands. While the protesters want different things — some to stop new taxes, others cuts in government services — all should ask their representatives to answer for… -
Cap on payday loans would hurt those most in need
January 2008 · David Kreutzer · Daily Press
Right now, residents of the early presidential primary states are learning the skill known as “choosing the least bad option.” It’s a good skill to have. Many Virginians face a similar decision when choosing between interest rates that can range from 390 to 2,795 percent on their loans. And while 390 percent is not a rate anybody with a good credit rating would pay, it is the… -
Minimum wage is the wrong tool for social engineering
January 2008 · David Kreutzer · Cleveland Plain Dealer
First do no harm. That’s a life-or-death rule for doctors, who must consider any damage their intended cures may inflict. If only policy-makers respected this rule. Instead, on New Year’s Day, Ohio, along with 13 other states and the District of Columbia, applied the economic equivalent of leeches – minimum-wage increases – to try to “cure” poverty. Misguided politicians and citizens in Ohio and elsewhere mandated wage…