Robin Cox – 2/9/06

This page was last updated on February 12, 2006.

Don’t hike the minimum wage; Robin Cox; Beaver County Times; February 9, 2006.

Below is a copy of the letter as I submitted it. I got the idea for the letter when I wrote critiques of the editorial “Hard sell” and State Rep. Frank LaGrotta’s letter entitled “Wage hike reasonable.”

Title: It is about economics

The difference between the minimum wage and a job’s economic value is nothing less than stealth welfare. Just as the government check and “tax credit” forms of welfare, the unearned portion of the minimum wage is a tax. Does anyone honestly believe tax increases benefit the economy or increase jobs?

Minimum wage proponents tend to employ two tactics on their way to concluding, “it’s the moral/right thing to do.”

One tactic, employed in a Times editorial, evades analytical discussion by falsely claiming “it’s more about politics than economics.”

The other tactic, used in a letter by State Rep. Frank LaGrotta (D-10), cites “facts” that defy commonsense, economic principles, and logic.

Both tactics require us to accept the unbelievable, that labor costs have little to no effect on employment or the economy in general. If this is true, where did the gas pumping gas station attendants go, why are supermarkets installing automated checkout machines, et cetera? Hint: The primary reason is NOT customer service.

Even the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democrat Caucus acknowledged the ripple effect of an increase when it wrote a “rising tide lifts all boats.” As soon as the “rising tide” (more like a tsunami) works its way through the economy via a mix of job attrition, delayed hiring, higher prices, et cetera, minimum wage recipients who still have jobs will be back at square one.

The whole process is akin to a dog chasing his tail.

Regarding the effect on Pennsylvania’s economy, experience tells us arbitrary costs of any kind imposed by one region put that region at a competitive disadvantage. There’s a reason jobs from the north travel south, and it’s not the weather. It is about economics.

Minimum wage supporters need to start being honest with us, and themselves.