Good Example Of Article Review On Minimum Wage Increase

Summary

In “Reasons for Supporting the Minimum Wage: Asking Signatories of the “Raise the Minimum Wage” Statement” Klein and Dompe take us through some of the critical factors that inform the debate around minimum wage. They take a quantitative approach to their study in which they interview a number of economists and non-economists and consider the results. In general, there is sufficient consensus on the need to raise minimum wage. As the study shows, minimum wage has been critical in the industry for the last sixty eight years since it was introduced. The authors argue that setting a minimum wage floor beneath which employers cannot pay is productive and protective of the employees. In essence, by setting the minimum wage, the employee is assured of a basic living wage. In that breathe they argue that the minimum wage must reflect the living times. In other words, if the minimum wage is way below what one needs to survive in the economy then the employees are left exposed.
In order to sufficiently dissect the subject area, the authors consider some of the arguments offered for and against the minimum wage and whether it ought to be increased. Some of the pro-arguments include the cushioning of low wage employees and their families from hardship, the disturbance of the imbalance in bargaining skills, the creation of a common mentality as to the lowest rate of pay hence reduction in exploitation and the containment of employers holding a monopsony power. On the other hand, the authors present the limitation of liberty as one of the ills brought about by continuously increasing the minimum wage. The argument being that the setting and increasing of the minimum wage essentially attacks one’s right to property and engagement within the context of freedom of contract. The second argument offered against minimum wage is that it is anti-competitive.
Be that as it may, the authors laud the language and intention of the Fair Minimum Wage Act 2005 and its requirement for the federal minimum wage. They further observe that since then, twenty two states and the District of Columbia have set the minimum wage above the federal minimum wage. This approach, they say, is progressive. It goes deep in addressing the plight of low wage employees and in turn net beneficial effect in the economy.

Response

This paper concurs with the authors’ arguments. Indeed, there is a need to set a minimum wage and consistent increase it based on the state of the economy. The minimum wage is the only fetter on the employer’s power and it is based on the protectionist imperative of the state. In a capitalist system, employers prefer to pay an amount just sufficient for the survival of the employee. However, it is imperative to consider the human being principle. In that context, the wage paid to any employee must first be sufficient to enable basic living. The minimum wage is the only novel that is applied in satisfying that requirement.
Further, a distributional system is imperative in order to maintain the stability of a state. In other words, when a few accumulate at the expense of the majority, the social stability becomes in doubt. It is in such systems that revolts and guerilla warfare are prevalent partially due to economic injustice. The minimum wage is one such tool that tackles such economic injustice.

Work Cited

Klein, Daniel and Stewart Dompe. "Reasons for Supporting the Minimum Wage: Asking Signatories of the “Raise the Minimum Wage” Statement." Economic Journal Watch (2007): 125-167.