Cafe patron Malcolm Kirkpatrick sends to me the following e-mail, inspired by my recent post on minimum-wage legislation. I post Mr. Kirkpatrick’s e-mail in full, with his kind permission.
Sir,
The most direct evidence that advocates for minimum wage laws do not believe their own argument is the fact that they propose fines for companies that pay less than the legislated minimum. How are fines suppose to motivate businesses that are indifferent to costs?
It’s a superb and germane point – one that helps to expose the flaw in the scientifically naive assertion that it is unscientific to generalize theoretical conclusions.
