Minimum Wage Stimulus
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James Joyner | Thursday, February 5, 2009 |
Ezra Klein: “David Leonhardt amasses some evidence that tax rebates are better stimulus than some think. One of his correspondents suggests that “maybe the best kind of stimulus would be a minimum wage increase.”
Nothing spurs the creation of jobs in a down economy like increasing the cost of creating a job while simultaneoulsy increasing the cost of keepiing one’s existing employees, I always say.
Still, this does provide yet another data point in the emerging consensus that “stimulus” is just another word for “funding policy preferences I had all along.”
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About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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I think it's time to invade Iran. The defense spending multipliers are significant (in some studies IIRC they are higher than domestic spending), and is more targeted to domestic industries. Added bonus: conscription would reduce the unemployment rate.
Still, this does provide yet another data point in the emerging consensus that “stimulus” is just another word for “funding policy preferences I had all along.”
Indeed.
Quite.
In this case, policy preferences that exclude lowering the amount of money consumed and redistributed by government. Instead private business takes the hit.
I wonder if Klein has ever noticed that when min wage goes up, entry level jobs suffer?
