7/26/2015 – Raising Floor for Minimum Wage Pushes Economy Into the Unknown (The New York Times)

 The fight for a $15 minimum wage has gained momentum in New York, California and other places around the country in recent months. But as a national strategy to raise incomes at the bottom of the pay scale, it faces major obstacles, both political and economic. In many states, particularly those governed by Republicans in the South and the Midwest, there is little chance of raising the minimum wage above the federal level, which has stood at $7.25 since 2009. Congressional Democrats have introduced a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020, but Republicans typically argue that raising the wage floor costs jobs and hurts the very people it is intended to help. Even where the proposals are politically viable, the economic challenge could prove daunting. That is because the sheer magnitude of the recent minimum wage increases sets up an economics experiment the country has rarely if ever seen before.

Read the full article in The New York Times.