Abolish the Minimum Wage? It’s No Fantasy
from truthdig:
Abolish the Minimum Wage? Its No Fantasy
Posted on Apr 8, 2013
By Thomas Hedges, Center for Study of Responsive Law
Free market advocates tried to convince an audience at Washington, D.C.s Burke Theater last week that the minimum wage should be abolished.
James Dorn of the Cato Institute and popular economist Russ Roberts faced Jared Bernstein from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Karen Kornbluh, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, in an Oxford-style debate facilitated by the organization Intelligence Squared.
The premiseAbolish the Minimum Wageis far from the current mainstream debate. Since its creation in 1938, the minimum wage has been venerated. For years, public discussion has focused on raising it, and although such increases are a constant point of contention between Democrats and Republicans, people have rarely questioned the rules existence.
But the deregulation of government over the past 15 years, now coupled with the rise of an unforgiving libertarianism on the right, has allowed lawmakers to re-examine programs and policies that havent been touched for decadesthe Glass-Steagall Act separating banks and investment firms as well as federal welfare are gone. Now Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the minimum wage are threatened.
The slow bulldozing of these government protections lends a prescience to the debate on minimum wage. One day the United States, which two years ago could have never anticipated todays proposed cuts, might have to confront the issue seriously. .........................(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/abolish_the_minimum_wage_its_no_fantasy_20130408/