Over the years, Americans have heard politicians bloviate about the economic injustice that afflicts our nation.
The most common claim is that Americans should earn a “living wage.”
Politicians preach raising the minimum wage because the current rate is not enough. This solution is futile. Unfortunately, politicians on both sides promote the idea of minimum wage laws and simply disagree about what the amount should be.
The question that I am raising is not whether we should raise the minimum wage; I am suggesting that minimum wage itself is the problem in our economic system.
People are familiar with the “If you raise the minimum wage, a gallon of milk will cost $8” line. This is accurate, but it falls on deaf ears. Liberal politicians do not care about the cost of milk because they will impose price controls on businesses, like they imposed wage controls on them.
The problem that they are allegedly trying to solve is economic injustice. While I do not believe this is the goal, let’s imagine that they are genuine. How do we fix the low wages that people receive? The answer is to remove the minimum wage and create a truly competitive market.
The majority of people earn a low wage for a few reasons. They lack the ability to negotiate wages, they lack skills, or they lack the soft skills needed to be good employees.
Government regulations are a major cause of all three. Government control of wages increases the cost of having an employee – which leads to large unemployment numbers, easily seen by statistical analysis.
It also puts a ceiling on the wage that workers in a similar field can earn. If all waitresses are paid the same minimum wage, there will be less reward for the proficient worker. It will also eliminate the ability to negotiate elsewhere because the law has created this systemic problem.
The lack of skills – in reference to field specific skills – is a problem that is cured by experience in that field and education. Raising minimum wage kills the ability to have apprentices learn skills on the job. They are low-skilled workers and cannot be paid as if they were not.
So the answer is college education, correct? No.
While college teaches you field specific skills, it does not teach you the soft skills needed to be a good employee. This is the largest issue in our workforce. Soft skills
are punctuality, hygiene, relational skills, confidence, etc. These are not skills that are innate, and they are not skills that we learn in college. I learned these skills by actually working. Most employers will tell you that the real issue in hiring is related to work ethic or soft skills.
The empty promise of raising the minimum wage is a perfect example of how the government manipulates the poor to gain political power, while also removing the ladder out of poverty.
The way out is found not in a politician, but an old proverb: “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways and be wise.”
Jeremy Wiggins writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He is a resident of the Tallulah community.