California May 20, 2016

A Golden State Payout for Big Labor

California’s impending $15 minimum wage will take full effect by 2022-23. Evidence suggests that organized labor’s $1.6 million investment in the venture is already set to pay off. Typically, unions support a higher minimum wage to achieve an indirect pay benefit . An analysis of…
April 28, 2016

America’s Poor Need a Job, Not a “Raise”

Will raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour dramatically reduce poverty rates? Setting aside the policy’s negative impact on jobs, a dramatic minimum wage hike faces a far more fundamental problem: A majority of Americans in poverty don’t work and can’t benefit from a “raise.” The Employment Policies Institute used…
April 14, 2016

Meet The New Fast Food Crew Member

The SEIU-backed Fight for $15 takes to the streets again today to demand $15 and a union. In a full-page ad in USA Today, we highlight one of the most predictable consequences for less-skilled employees – job loss from automation. McDonald’s has already installed over 7,000 of these…
March 24, 2016

Do Part-Time Employees Want “Fairness” or Flexibility?

Unions and the advocacy groups they fund in the District of Colombia have a new grievance: part-time schedules. Legislation under consideration by the City Council – based on a similar ordinance passed in San Francisco last year –  would require employers to provide schedules three weeks in advance, and penalize them…
March 21, 2016

About Those Economists Who Support Cuomo’s $15 Wage Proposal

Governor Cuomo’s $15 minimum wage proposal has been criticized by a diverse group of legislators, small businesses, nonprofits, and newspaper editorial pages, all of whom have pointed out the obvious: A $15 wage mandate will have serious consequences. But recently, a group of 79 economists came to Cuomo’s defense, declaring…
March 16, 2016

A History Lesson for Minimum Wage Proponents

Today, labor advocates are celebrating the 20th anniversary of David Card and Alan Krueger’s controversial book Myth and Measurement. The best-known research it contains found that a wage hike increased employment in New Jersey relative to neighboring Pennsylvania. It’s a convenient story for proponents, but it’s also incomplete: This infamous study was…
New York March 15, 2016

Cuomo’s Reckless Drive for $15

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s RV trip around the state to pitch his $15 minimum wage proposal has been fueled with lofty claims and misleading facts. In an ad in today’s New York Post, we take on his boldest claim, that there’s “no credible evidence” that his proposed minimum wage will hurt the…
Maine March 2, 2016

The Impact of a $12 Minimum Wage in Maine

Proponents of a higher minimum wage in Maine, led by the state AFL-CIO, have gathered enough signatures to put their proposed $12 minimum wage to a vote this November. But earlier today a coalition representing approximately ten thousand Maine business owners announced their support for a competing $10 minimum wage proposal. Last year,…
March 1, 2016

Even Proponents Agree: Wage Hikes Cause Job Loss

Erica Payne is the President of an organization called Patriotic Millionaires, which made a name for itself during the lame duck session of Congress in 2010 when they demanded higher taxes for America’s wealthy, themselves included. More recently, the millionaires have taken to supporting a higher minimum wage as a…
February 18, 2016

Busting Myths About the Minimum Wage

Proponents of a higher minimum wage are determined to make their case no matter how much evidence piles up against them. But in doing so they conveniently avoid the evidence that directly challenges their arguments. We looked at several of the popular arguments proponents of a higher wage make, and…