02/07/05
To the editor,
A couple of months ago, when the state legislature was considering a raise in the minimum wage, this newspaper published an editorial in support of the increase. I hope that the next time the issue is raised, the PressRepublican will take a stand in favor of abolishing the minimum wage, for it does much more harm than good and there are better ways to raise the standard of living of poor people.
In the past, when immigrant groups came to this country, they faced severe prejudice. They were able to integrate themselves successfully in the mainstream of American life by offering to work for wages lower than the “going rate.” Once they had learned how to hold a job, they moved up the socioeconomic ladder and became more prosperous. Today because of the minimum wage laws, this route is not available to certain groups. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in March 2004 the unemployment rate among black teenagers was 29.4% . Among teenagers overall the rate was 14.8%. These young people need to learn how to support themselves and low paying jobs can provide a needed training ground. If they don’t learn how to support themselves, the taxpayer will end up doing it, either through welfare or the prison system.
For such people, minimum wage creates greater unemployment, knocks out the bottom rungs of the economic ladder, and deprives them of the opportunities for which our country is justly proud. And its effect is racist. Worst of all, it prevents such people from becoming full, functioning members of our society. For a well researched and dispassionate analysis of this issue, please read the 34 page book "Minimum Wage, Maximum Damage" by Jim Cox. It is available from www.TheAdvocates.org, a promoter of libertarian policies.
align=right>Robert Hofer
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