An overwhelming number of studies show that raising the minimum wage actually eliminates employment opportunities
What does the evidence about the impact of raising minimum wages actually say? It's one of the most contentious public policy debates of recent years. Opponents of raising the minimum wage say it will result in job losses – making it more expensive to hire workers means businesses will hire fewer workers. Supporters point to…
It’s not a too-generous minimum wage. It's the desire of other employers to hire workers whose value is beyond their current pay
Some people think it’s the government that protects workers, through minimum wage laws and regulations that ensure workers get a decent living wage and good working conditions. But in reality, minimum wages and labour regulations don’t protect workers at all – they actually reduce the protection workers enjoy. Take the case of a low-skilled worker…
Government green programs impose costs on third parties. Consumers and taxpayers must pay for those policies, and the environment actually suffers
In a 1999 interview, the late Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman remarked that there were good arguments for having government take action to reduce pollution, like smoke from power plants. That’s because the smoke imposes costs on third parties – for example, by dirtying property as well as surrounding public spaces. A power plant produces…
Governments should abolish the fruitless minimum wage if they want to do right by young and low-income persons
By Marco Navarro-Genie and Matthew Lau Contributors High unemployment in Atlantic Canada is a longstanding problem. For over four decades, unemployment rates have consistently exceeded the national rate. It is critical for the provinces to reduce barriers to work. Yet governments do the opposite when they raise the legislated minimum wage, as all four Maritime…