Hundreds of Economists Say: Raise the Minimum Wage!

[usregimechange]

Five Nobel Prize winners and other leading economists, joined by hundreds of others, urge a raise in the minimum wage.

We believe that a modest increase in the minimum wage would
improve the well-being of low-wage workers and would not have
the adverse effects that critics have claimed. In particular, we
share the view the Council of Economic Advisors expressed in
the 1999 Economic Report of the President that "the weight of
the evidence suggests that modest increases in the minimum
wage have had very little or no effect on employment." While
controversy about the precise employment effects of the minimum
wage continues, research has shown that most of the beneficiaries
are adults, most are female, and the vast majority are members
of low-income working families.

As economists who are concerned about the problems
facing low-wage workers, we believe the Fair Minimum Wage Act
of 2005’s proposed phased-in increase in the federal minimum
wage to $7.25 falls well within the range of options where the
benefits to the labor market, workers, and the overall economy
would be positive.

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have set
their minimum wages above the federal level. Arizona, Colorado,
Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio, are considering similar
measures. As with a federal increase, modest increases in state
minimum wages in the range of $1.00 to $2.50 and indexing to
protect against inflation can significantly improve the lives of
low-income workers and their families, without the adverse
effects that critics have claimed.

Henry Aaron The Brookings Institution
Kenneth Arrow*+ Stanford University
William Baumol+ Princeton University and New York University
Rebecca Blank University of Michigan
Alan Blinder Princeton University
Peter Diamond+ Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ronald Ehrenberg, Cornell University
Clive Granger* University of California, San Diego
Lawrence Katz Harvard University (AEA Executive Committee)
Lawrence Klein*+ University of Pennsylvania
Frank Levy Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lawrence Mishel Economic Policy Institute
Alice Rivlin+ The Brookings Institution (former Vice Chair of the
Federal Reserve and Director of the Office of Management and Budget)
Robert Solow*+ Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Joseph Stiglitz* Columbia University
For more information, visit epinet.org/minwage or contact the Economic Policy Institute at 202/775-8810.
* Nobel Laureate + Past president, American Economics Association
650 of their fellow economists agree

http://www.epi.org/minwage/epi_minimum_wage_2006.pdf

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. We've been saying this for years...

is anyone listening? :shrug:


recommended.

[usregimechange]

3. In MO we will be voting on an increase in state min wage this Nov

[NMMNG]

2. Please! Economists? WTF do they know about the economy?

Now rich RW politicians, they know about the economy. :sarcasm: