Minimum Wage Increases are Good ☀
In a similar vein to the befuddlement in this post on how Christians could champion a for-profit health industry tilted to the wealthy and powerful, in stark constrast to biblical edicts of Jesus, I puzzle over conservative Christian opposition to minimum wage law. Today, I listened to a Christian talk radio host lambast the recent raise of U.S. minimum wage to $7.25 per hour. The decrying of minimum wage policy once again served as a centerpiece in his “Wacky Wednesday” format where he advocates for ideas he (and no doubt the majority of his listening audience) deems “wacky”. During the latter half of the show’s segment, the host shared his zero sum economic thinking on the matter and bemused over how advocates for a living wage could not plainly see that any increase would result in less jobs.
In addition, the host expressed his belief that such a law should be abolished or set at a ridiculously low rate, like a $1-$2 per hour. A mark so low that it would be embarrasing for a employer to be exposed as embracing. In his economic worldview, labor is just a commodity to be swapped like the mythical widgets in a theoretical textbook market.
My gut reaction when I hear these arguments is outrage at the total lack of compassion and defense of social systems that enact a compensation differential where you could perform honest work and receive one thousandth or less of what a typical corporate CEO rakes in. Vast inequality aside, the more egregious nature of a Christian defending the paying of less than a living wage should strike any with a compassionate streak as unjust. Then I consider their educational background and wonder whether or not they’ve ever questioned the neoliberal economic orthodoxies that have been shoveled ad nauseam down their mind shaft. For intelligent Christians I encounter, the bewilderment is doubled — I struggle to understand how a fellow Christian would opt for the side of the wealthy and powerful over the poor and powerless.
Another consideration is the non-existence of a bottom ceiling for the labor market. Practically, there is an infinite supply of workers willing to work for a fraction (or on the false promise of slightly less) of what a U.S. worker requires to etch out hard scrabbled existence. There are more migrant Chinese workers than the total U.S. population. Without minimum wage regulation, a “race to the bottom” ensues and any business competitor must adopt this strategy or choose to perish. You of a libertarian bent will contend that it’s just unskilled labor that is affected in this manner, and these legacy stepping stone spots are best eschewed for more brainier occupational pursuits. The problem with that tack is that in the arc of technological progress, all jobs are destined for the “unskilled” tag. Indeed, a study of just about any advancing industry succinctly shows how it evolved by substituting mandatory points of craftsmanship with easily replaceable lower skilled worker roles. You can peruse the federal government’s monthly jobs report and confirm that most new job creation is centered in unskilled or semi-skilled professions (or in health care). On the flip side, high labor costs incites exploration of labor saving technology. Yes, that results in job losses too, but at the benefit of greater production per capita. Which is the gist of the story in the history of the industrialized world, post information age — less jobs are needed to achieve a greater abundance of production.
To be fair, so called free market devotees believe clinging to a utopian economic worldview that postulates laissez-faire mechanics ensures a greater economic pie for all to share, thus improving the lot of workers on the low end. And government meddling with the motions of the invisible hand mucks it up, especially for low wage earners. In some light, they are admirably adopting a non-zero sum posture — however oblivious they are (in this aspect) in divorcing essential parts from the whole economic foundation and framework. Back to the aforementioned radio host — he continuously trotted out economic anecdotes that really did not buttress his case — price of milk (forgetting that dairy farming is heavily subsidized), rent prices (seemingly unaware of rent control in metropolitan areas), unemployment in France (but unlike the U.S. there is a social safety net there that provides in case of job loss), etc.…
On one point I am in total agreement — that such a small raise hardly seems consequential from the standpoint of the minimum wage worker’s economic health. In fact, I’d be all in favor of scrapping the whole minimum wage concept in lieu of a negative income tax once advocated by famous conservative economist Milton Friedman. A system where a stipend could ensure that food, shelter and basic necessities be provided without the fanfare of a constellation of public welfare contructs like minimum wage, welfare, food stamps, WIC, EIC, etc.…. Conservatives have the family values conundrum backwards — economic misfortune is the primary cause of marital breakdown and the provision of economic security would spare the destruction of many marriages.
