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In my most recent column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, I ask more questions of supporters of minimum-wage legislation [2]. A slice:
Many supporters of the minimum wage assert that imperfections in the labor market cause low-skilled workers to be paid wages less than these workers would be paid in a well-functioning market. This assertion implies that employers of low-skilled workers are reaping extra-high profits off of each of these workers. The minimum wage is said to be a device to push wages up to their “correct” level. But if most employers of low-skilled workers are profiting exorbitantly off of such workers, why do not greedy entrepreneurs and businesses flock into places and industries that use lots of low-skilled workers? Underpaid workers would be a gold mine for employers willing to hire such workers. Such additional competition for these workers, of course, would raise their wages up to appropriate levels. Why do you ignore this possibility?
(In a column from February 2013 I asked other questions of minimum-wage proponents [3].)