High wage growth is universally applauded, but many proposals for raising wages are poorly reasoned. One common policy argument is to choose a period of historically high wage growth, such as the 1960s or the 1990s, and then cherry-pick one or two policies that were in place at the time. Misplaced nostalgia for the 1960s might make pundits pine for strong unions or a large manufacturing sector, but those same pundits would blanch at bringing back most other aspects of the 1960s economy: race and gender segregation in most workplaces, a military draft, low social spending, and high marginal tax rates.
My GMU Econ colleague Garett Jones is one of the guests on this week’s Stossel (which aired last night and will air again on Sunday evening on Fox).
The great Matt Ridley explains that fossil fuels will save the world – no joking.
Seattle is hit with a mysterious rash of restaurant closures!