The passage of the stimulus package last week ushered in an expansion of the social safety net that Democrats have celebrated. But one key policy was not included: a doubling of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.  

Today, we look at the history of that demand, and the shifting political and economic arguments for and against it. 

Guest: Ben Casselman, an economics and business reporter for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Earlier this month, a group of senators from both sides of the aisle declined to advance a federal minimum wage increase to $15 an hour.
• The politics of a higher minimum wage are increasingly muddled, but some Republicans are gravitating toward the idea, citing the economic needs of working-class Americans.

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