Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Anti-Black Minimum Wage

William F. Buckley, RCP weighs in on the minimum wage:
Milton Friedman taught that "the substitution of contract arrangements for status arrangements was the first step toward the freeing of the serfs in the Middle Ages." He cautioned against set prices. "The high rate of unemployment among teenagers, and especially black teenagers, is both a scandal and a serious source of social unrest. Yet it is largely a result of minimum-wage laws." Those laws are "one of the most, if not the most, anti-black laws on the statute books."
It's a feel-good measure with pernicious results.

UPDATE: More on this from Gary Becker and Richard Posner of the University of Chicago. And in a related article, Michael Barone, RCP talks about the high taxes facing Blue States, including Illinois, which the Dems will need to address.

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