The folly of raising the minimum wage 14
There should be no minimum wage at all in the interest of a thriving economy.
But if there is going to be such a misconceived thing, it should be very low indeed.
Many minimum wage jobs can be performed by machines. Automation will be hastened by the imposition of a minimum wage.
Minimum wage enforcement can only create unemployment.
It is not what an employee needs that should determine his wage, but how much he can contribute to the business that employs him. If his job earns the business at least three times his wage, he is worth what he is paid. The more he contributes, the more he is worth. If he needs more, he can get it by contributing more. The bigger and better his contribution, the better he’ll do for himself.
This is the way capitalism – what Adam Smith called “the natural order of liberty” – works.
From each according to his need, to each according to his ability.
