Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Debating the minimum wage is a depressing experience for me, compared to other issues…like for example, gun control. People who disagree with me about gun control, think if you outlaw guns, you eventually get rid of them. I don’t think it works that way, but I can understand why they would. You want to get rid of guns…you make it illegal to own them…eventually, they’re gone. Okay. Understandable. Simplistic, wrong-headed…but understandable.
Minimum wage is different. I end up arguing with people over whether some third-party’s wages should be “raised”…and I have never quite found a diplomatic way of pointing out what these people are missing. That isn’t what a minimum wage law does. I simply pronounce what the law is all about, and we have to start arguing about that because it sounds like I’m indulging in extravagant fantasy about the long-term future effects of the law. I’m not doing that; I’m simply summarizing what the law is supposed to do. It OUTLAWS JOBS. That is what is written, that is the long-term effect, it is the immediate effect, it is what is done, it is what is supposed to happen. Guy A hires Guy B, if the terms of the contract between A and B don’t fulfill the parameters codified by the legislature, Guy A has broken the law. There are no funds collected, from anywhere, to supplement Guy B’s paycheck — and that is what would have to happen for anyone’s “wages” to be “raised.”
This is breathtakingly simple. It isn’t even logic. It’s just observing what’s happening, and recognizing what the argument is supposed to be about.
Once you recognize that, this article should yield no astonishing surprises, none at all. Yet some people will not only be surprised, they’ll refuse to acknowledge anything meritorious in it. Simply amazing.
Minimum wage hurts those it means to help
After the November elections — with the return of a Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress and the Indiana House — the minimum wage is receiving maximum attention. Applauded as everything from an effective poverty-fighting tool to the epitome of economic justice, a higher minimum wage is popular with politicians and the general public. But economists point to the demographics of the lowest-paid workers and note that small business owners may be unwilling to pay higher wages for the same productivity.
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In any case, the punch line is that some poor people would be helped at the expense of other poor people — a curious attempt at economic justice and a less than impressive poverty-fighting tool. Those who keep their jobs would be better off while others would lose their jobs. Sadly, the latter would lose what they most need– an earned income and an opportunity to build job experience and skills. Ironically, the minimum wage steps on some of the most vulnerable in trying to help others.
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