Thankfully the wise Swiss recently voted 76% against an initiative to impose the highest minimum wage in the world, thus slowing momentum for a growing worldwide “living wage” movement. Note that this initiative took the form of a national referendum and a popular vote, rather than a decentralized process undertaken by individual cantons. This tactic no doubt appeals to living wage advocates in the US, who are eager to use misguided populist sentiment and shove preemptive federal wage laws down our throats without the involvement of pesky state legislatures.
Chapter 18 of Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson remains the single best summation of arguments against minimum wage laws. At a mere 1500 words, it’s an easy read for even the laziest of our statist friends. The chapter is here, while the entire book (itself an easy read) in pdf form is here.
Please join us in fighting the growing “inequality” meme by demolishing the case for minimum wage laws. Spread these Hazlitt links far and wide!!
