Minimum Wage Hike A Bad Idea For The Poor

Economics professor Benjamin Powell explains why:

"We all know that if the government raised the minimum wage by $20 an hour, many employees would be laid off. Businesses hire workers only when the workers create more revenue than they cost in wages and compensation. We know that many workers' productivity is less than $7.75 an hour, and that they would be laid off if the minimum wage were that high.
People kid themselves when they believe smaller increases wouldn't also harm employment."

"In 2004 the Employment Policy Institute studied the impact of raising California's minimum wage by $1.
It found that approximately 18,600 Californians would lose their jobs, and in the process would miss out on $220 million in total income."

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