I don’t think we need minimum wage policy. It amounts to a tax on young and low skill labor. Far from helping those at the bottom of the career ladder, it increases the cost of employing them and giving them the job experience and training necessary to move up that ladder. That doesn’t help them.…
Podcast: Senate Candidate Paul Schaffner Has Little to Say About Conviction for Soliciting a Prostitute
U.S. Senate candidate Paul Schaffner was on my radio show today. You may remember me writing about Schaffner announcing, and then withdrawing, a similar campaign late last month. In that post I noted Schaffner’s conviction last year for soliciting a prostitute. I asked him about it today, but he said he couldn’t talk about it…
There May Be a Lot of Left Wing Initiated Measures on the Ballot This Election Cycle
Earlier today I wrote about a proposed ballot measure which would raise North Dakota’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. That’s a proposal near and dear to the hearts of North Dakota progressives, but it’s not the only initiated measure coming from the left which may be on ballots this election cycle. There are also:…
Does North Dakota Need a Minimum Wage Hike to $15 Per Hour?
Over the weekend we got news that a group of citizens is preparing a ballot measure that would increase North Dakota’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour over the course of three years. Currently North Dakota’s minimum wage is at $7.25 per hour, so this proposed measure would roughly double that. “If we don’t have…
What if Raising the Minimum Wage Is Bad for People Who Make the Minimum Wage?
Our friends on the left take it as an article of faith that raising the minimum wage is good for low wage workers. In fact, they argue it’s a good thing for all workers. “A rising tide lifts all boats,” is a saying they’re fond of invoking in defense of minimum wage hikes. Earlier this…
Video: Bill Sponsor Warns of “Serfdom and Slavery” as Minimum Wage Legislation Is Defeated
HB1263, introduced by Rep. Marvin Nelson, a Democrat from Rolla, would do two things: Raise North Dakota’s minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $9.25 per hour on January 1, 2018. Mandate automatic, annual increases in the wage at the rate of inflation. Not surprisingly, the legislation got a cool reception from North Dakota’s lawmakers.…
Rep. Nelson: Minimum Wage Hike Needed Because Business Aren’t Paying Workers Enough to Survive
State Rep. Marvin Nelson wants to increase North Dakota’s minimum wage because he’s “tired of paying other people’s wages” he told me today during an interview on my radio show. He’s introduced legislation to do just that, sponsoring HB1263 (PDF) which would raise the wage minimum to $9.25 per hour on January 1, 2018, and…
Stop Whining About “Waste of Time” Legislation
The beginning of North Dakota’s legislative session is like a holiday for those of us who make a living writing about politics and public policy, because in those weeks there are thousands of bills introduced proposing all manner of policy ideas ranging from the sensible to the zany. It gives us a lot to write…
Minnesota's Minimum Wage Hike May Be Particularly Harmful
Minnesota’s minimum wage just went up to $9 per hour, the second hike in a series of increases passed by lawmakers in 2014. Next August the state’s minimum will increase again to $9.50 per hour, and after that annual increases will be tied to inflation. That last bit may be what makes Minnesota’s minimum wage…
Why Aren't Teenagers Working? It's The Minimum Wage, Stupid
“It’s Summer, but Where Are the Teenage Workers?” asks the New York Times in a headline: Ice cream still needs scooping, beaches still need guarding and campers still need counseling. But now, there are way fewer teenagers doing it all this summer. Since 2000, the share of 16- to 19-year-olds who are working has plummeted by…