In the letter below, Don Boudreaux responds to a missive from a group that claims to be comprised of business owners. This group extols government coercion (raising the minimum wage) as a good thing that will actually help businesses.
Mr. Bob Keener
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage
Dear Mr. Keener:
According to your June 30th press release, “DC business owners are welcoming the minimum wage increases effective July 1. They say … that businesses will benefit from lower employee turnover and increased productivity, product quality and customer satisfaction.”
Let’s get this matter straight. These business owners are confident that if their lowest-paid workers get a raise the resulting increase in worker productivity will improve these businesses’ bottom lines, yet each of these owners is too daft to take such an available profit-enhancing step on his or her own. In other words, these are business owners who refrain from running their companies as profitably as possible until and unless they are ordered to do so by politicians.
I’m afraid that all that your press release proves is that these business owners are so incompetent and clueless that any pronouncements they make about public policies should be utterly ignored.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
