The Minimum Wage Kills Jobs

I was appalled this week when Bill O'Reilly had John Stossel on his show to discuss minimum wage laws. O'Reilly actually said he believes the minimum wage should be $16 an hour, and he would not be reasoned out of it. He even proposed some kind of system in which the government would give businesses a tax credit to enable to them to pay a minimum wage of $16. Basically, the government pays peoples wages. Unfortunately I am unable to find a video of the interview. Apparently, according to O'Relly, Stossel had called him a "loon." I'd have to agree.

While I disagree with O'Reilly on many things, I tend to respect many of his opinions. I thought he was intelligent and reasonable enough not to support something as basically flawed as the minimum wage. Unfortunately, while many economists recognize that the minimum wage kills jobs (see the following video), much of the American public does not understand.

Watch the video for some excellent analysis of why the minimum wage is such a flawed idea. In addition to the points mentioned in the video, with a minimum wage business owners are more likely to automate systems which they would have paid a worker to operate had there been no minimum wage. That's one less job for entry-level and low-skilled workers (especially teenagers) to gain valuable work experience, helping them move up in the world and eventually use those skills to earn even more money. Not to mention some business owners might be forced to move jobs and even their entire business overseas where the labor comes at a lower cost.