…but of course there is not one serious economist in the world who has published in the literature that says that is true!

And for a variety of reasons….

It would be accurate to state that raising the minimum wage means some people would have more money in their pocket while others have less. If the workers in a business make more then their employer makes an equivalent amount less. There is no net gain in consumer spending or economic activity.

Oh Chris, little buddy, would that “unserious troll” was even slightly offensive.

It’s not me. it’s John Galbraith you have the beef with.

And so many others…Raising the minimum wage is good economics. It means that people will have more money to spend, and that helps propel the economy forward and give a much-needed boost to many small businesses. Besides, with a higher minimum wage, fewer people will need to count on food stamps or other kinds of government assistance to feed their families. A higher wage means people can provide more for themselves.

A little sarcastic Jimmy, but I seriously think the USA is ready to go FULL SOVIET.

By ‘full soviet’ I mean the following:

Free housing guaranteed for ALL. Presto, no more homelessness.
Free medical care. Absolutely FREE.
A guaranteed job for everyone. Presto, 0% unemplyment.
Totally free education, through university, for all, accompanied by rigorous aptitude testing with vocational education for the non-university-bound.

All of this with a hair-raising police state to crush any dissent. Americans at this point will gladly give up whats left of their ‘rights’ for a little bit more security.

That’s why leftists want regulations and taxes implemented at the highest possible level, to prevent defection. That way everybody is screwed, plus they get to claim that the “benefits” the new tax/regulation is giving you helps the largest possible number of people. Never mind that things like the OECD’s attempts at tax harmonization to prevent “harmful tax competition” simply means that member states have no incentive to reduce taxes or regulations.

As the post noted, if the left wants to argue that overall, raising the minimum wage is broadly good for society, that’s one thing. But to argue that raising the minimum wage is a job-creation scheme with no downside is not honest or backed by the facts.

You run a car wash. Your city begins to mandate a $12 hourly minimum wage. Two blocks away, in a neighboring city which has no such rule, there’s a car wash that pays its workers the state minimum of $9. Goodbye, car wash no. 1.

Now you can say the neighboring city is wrong for not having the $12 mandate. But you can’t argue the $12 mandate is good for jobs in the city that has the mandate.

Unless, of course, you’re an unserious troll.