The Immorality of the Minimum Wage

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Most economists, the minimum wage argument is about the impact overwhelmingly in our profession. The debate is how many lose their jobs or how many can find work. I think that's a hard case to make. There are plenty of other reasons we're not winning. We have had virtually those of us who don't like the minimum wage. First of all, we failed to attract friends. A huge excess demand for these high paying jobs for people with low skills tragically.

Is the perfect really the enemy of the good? Or is it the other way around? In 2008, Duke University economist Michael Munger ran for governor and proposed increasing school choice through vouchers for the state's poorest counties. But some lovers of liberty argued that it's better to fight for eliminating public schools instead of trying to improve them. Munger realized his fellow free-marketers come in two flavors: directionalists--who take our political realities as given and try to move outcomes closer to the ideal--and destinationists--who want no compromises with what they see as the perfect outcome. Listen as Munger talks to EconTalk's Russ Roberts about two different strategies for achieving political goals. Along the way, they discuss rent control, the minimum wage, and why free-market policies are so rare.