Scraping the dregs

So it appears the Democratic presidential nominee is proposing an increase in the minimum wage. It's about damn time, but is it enough?

Here in Minnesota, a Humphrey Institute professor and economist recently published a brief that makes "A Case for a Substantial Minimum Wage Hike for Minnesota." She and her colleagues note that the real value of the minimum wage in Minnesota has fallen from $8.27 to $5.15 over the years, and they also call for an increase to $7/hr. [The authors also astutely note that those who claim a minimum wage increase will disproportionately affect the income of teenagers or other, apparently less worthy, single workers are making an argument that is remarkably akin to those made to "legitimize" paying women less than their husbands...]

Of course, people are also afraid of the negative economic consequences of such a "substantial" increase to the minimum wage. While Card and Krueger have been forced to revise some of their conclusions, I do believe that their research offers some powerful evidence that, in the limited circumstances they analyzed, the minimum wage increase did not have a severe negative impact on the local economies in question.

While I'm still not sure of the adequacy of the $7 level, at least the minimum wage discussion appears to be starting again on the national stage. Especially given the CEO salaries compiled by xx in today's posting, you would think companies could pony up a bit more.

Oh yeah. But I forgot that companies like Wal-Mart are spending all their money in order to engage in sleazy tactics like there's no tomorrow. How could they ever afford to pay their workers more than $7 when they're spending millions to bust up unions?