Don Ewing: When faced with higher wages, poor people suffer the most

To The Daily Sun,

If Jay Newton is right, why are many workers poor after each minimum wage increase? Why, after about 24 minimum wage increases over 70 years, haven’t we achieved economic nirvana where everyone’s rich and no one’s poor? Minimum wage laws aren’t a panacea; they’re attractive-sounding political programs designed to get votes.       

A higher minimum wage makes it harder to get people’s most important job, their first job; the job that starts people toward prosperity.   

New Hampshire is creating jobs and increasing wages without a minimum wage increase (see page 4 of the Jan. 25 Laconia Daily Sun). Local starting wages are $14-$16 per hour.            

The 2014 Seattle $15-per-hour minimum wage increase helped some, mostly experienced, workers minimally, about $5 a week (https://tinyurl.com/2p8dnsw7, https://tinyurl.com/2hm3thnd). Other workers suffered reduced work hours, were laid off, and/or had their employer-paid benefits cut. Most businesses can’t just absorb increased costs.    

Minimum wage increases, without productivity improvements, ripple through the economy, causing inflation that hurts poor people the most (higher skilled workers get increases, businesses raise prices, taxes increase, etc.). 

When initially considering minimum wage laws, the Labor Department said that they were “likely to produce undesirable effects upon” the Puerto Rico and Virgin Island economies (https://tinyurl.com/y3bhkdk7). If a minimum wage hurts their economies, why not others? Minimum wage laws are politically, not economically, motivated. 

During the pandemic, billionaires became richer because government changed how people work and consume (rewarding investors) and shut down businesses providing millions of jobs, especially blue-collar ones.             

To help poor Americans, remove the illegal aliens who depress wages, take jobs, and raise their living costs; encourage investment to provide more and better jobs; buy American-made goods; and improve education to improve American workers’ skills.  

Don’t fall for the false promises of minimum wage increases.        

Don Ewing

Meredith