‘Lifting the Minimum Wage’

Economics has often been called the black “science”--and it is inscrutable indeed. We are constantly bombarded by sage, but conflicting, advice from many economists. Each opinion given with that air of certitude that precludes any questioning by mere lay persons. However, question I will. For example, the article by economist Michael Weinstein in Opinion, April 19, “Lifting the Minimum Wage Works Against the Neediest.”

He states that the congressional desire to raise the minimum wage little-by-little over a three-year period is a job-busting attempt. He says that many jobs would be lost (and he quotes Milton Friedman, the economic guru of total “free-enterprise” as one source). But, where would these poorly paid lost jobs go? Would all the fast-food outlets shut down? Would the service industry stop servicing?

Another question: If keeping people employed at below livable wages is necessary for mass employment, why not reduce the hourly wage even more, perhaps to $1 per hour, and get rid of unemployment altogether?

But wait, within the pages of the same edition, economist Rudiger Dornbusch complains that if the standard of living of Americans is eroded, they will not be able to buy all of the world’s products, thereby helping to cause a world depression. He states, “. . . the very fact of declining income feeds on itself, sending the economies of Europe and Japan into a tailspin.”

That leaves one damned if you do and damned if you don’t. What goes on here--who to believe? I will continue to believe that prosperity requires a steady national purchasing power, and that calls for adequate wages.

JOSEPH SIMON

Malibu