Wednesday 5 September 2012
When we talk about full employment, it has to be full employment at decent wages. Because the easiest thing to do is to get to full employment at terrible wages. That’s the approach where you eliminate the welfare state altogether and you tell people you’re on your own; people are desperate, and you can bargain down wages. So you can have a full employment economy at destitution level wages. I would consider a decent minimum wage around $12. It’s something we could establish without creating a lot of negative effects on job opportunities. Robert Pollin ☀
