Richard Craver of the Winston-Salem Journal reports on new laws in a number of states that mandate an increase in the minimum wage. North Carolina remains at $7.25 per hour. Our Mitch Kokai offers perspective on the policy debate.
“A government-mandated minimum wage — at any level — constitutes bad public policy,” said Mitch Kokai, policy analyst with Libertarian think tank John Locke Foundation.
“It works exactly as its original supporters intended: it prices those with the lowest skill levels out of the labor market.
“North Carolina policymakers can do nothing about bad policy enacted at the federal level,” Kokai said. “But they ought to be commended for refusing to compound Washington’s error by raising the government-mandated minimum wage in this state.”
Kokai said “forcing employers to raise wages leads to negative consequences for low-skilled workers: increased automation and fewer opportunities to take jobs that build the types of skills that pave the way for higher-paying jobs.”
Read the full story here.
