Dr. David Neumark is a noted economist and minimum wage expert from the University of California-Irvine. He’s often cited by groups across the ideological spectrum for his unbiased research on the minimum wage and other economic issues.
Yet one labor union-backed advocacy group, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), has attacked this accomplished economist—even though NELP has cited the very same scholar favorably in the past.
NELP’s Legal Co-Director, Paul Sonn, recently criticized new research from Neumark that thoroughly refutes a series of reports that NELP has promoted which claim that minimum wage increases don’t reduce employment. However, NELP has previously cited Neumark’s work positively—when his conclusions supported NELP’s ideological positions, as seen above.
A one-page document demonstrating NELP’s hypocrisy is available here.
Instead of acknowledging an overwhelming research consensus which shows that mandated wages hikes do indeed result in job loss, NELP’s approach has been to shoot the messenger. Unfortunately for them, it’s a messenger they’ve previously relied upon when his work fit with their activist agenda.
Lawmakers, the media, and the public should look to Dr. Neumark’s unbiased research to understand the facts—not the hypocritical, labor-aligned, and factually-questionable agenda of NELP.