The Federal minimum wage rose 70¢ today, to $6.55 per hour. It isn’t the increase that Libertarians find objectionable. The Libertarian Party of Georgia platform states “We support repeal of all laws that impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws…”
There are pros and cons to raising the minimum wage, but mostly cons. Minimum wage jobs are mainly the province of teenagers entering the work force, and of adults returning to it. Very few people remain in minimum wage jobs for long; average intelligence and average ambition are enough to move anyone up the wage ladder. Statists believe that today’s minimum wage workers have always and will always earn the minimum wage, and this is incorrect. The minimum wage is something a worker puts up with while he learns the skills he needs to deserve a higher wage.
Today’s 12% increase in the minimum wage is no free lunch. Companies now have to cut their payroll by 10.7% to keep their total payroll expense the same as it used to be. The result? Many of those minimum wage workers will be cut back to 35 hours. The worker sees no benefit, and we as consumers see worse customer service.
Libertarians see the debate about raising the minimum wage as beside the point. We do not accept that there should be a government imposed minimum salary. The Georgia Libertarian educational group The Advocates For Self-Government says “Skilled, experienced workers make high wages because employers compete to hire them. Poorly educated, inexperienced young people can’t get work because minimum wage laws make them too expensive to hire as trainees. Repeal of the minimum wage would allow many young, minority and poor people to work. It must be asked, if the minimum wage is such a good idea, why not raise it to $200 an hour? Even the most die-hard minimum wage advocate can see there’s something wrong with that proposal.”
Libertarians believe the objective minimum wage is determined when the least you will work for meets the most a potential employer will offer. If you can’t find someone to pay you what you think you’re worth, that ain’t the government’s fault.
Want to learn more about why Libertarians seek repeal of minimum wage laws? Georgia economist Jim Cox has a book called Minimum Wage, Maximum Damage, published by the Advocates; it’s available here.
