Workers, Stiffed

The minimum wage was last raised in 1997; inflation has just about fully eroded the value of that increase.

Congress will soon tie the record set during the Reagan years for the longest period without an increase (1981-1990, compared to 1997-?).

Since the average wage grew relatively quickly over these years, the value of the minimum wage relative to the average wage is at a 50-year low of 33 percent, a sure-fire recipe for a growing wage gap between low- and higher-wage workers.

After the last increase, the low-wage labor market soared, making it very tough (you'd think) for opponents to claim that minimum wage hikes kill jobs.

The opponents' arguments were predictable -- recent history be damned, the increase will force small businesses to lay off countless workers. This even though the increase now under discussion -- a raise to $7 by 2006 -- would reach two million fewer workers than the last one did.

(By the way, does it bother anybody else that enemies of the minimum wage always claim to be motivated by concern for low-wage workers? Would it be so terrible if they confessed that what really bothers them is that higher labor costs mean less profit?)

Why should anyone lose overtime pay? Why shouldn't we boost the minimum wage to ensure that the lowest-wage workers get a small boost from the growing economy? Compared to a radical restructuring of the tax code favoring investors over wage earners, these regulations are small potatoes. They mean a lot to their recipients, but they don't move the economy much. If anything, they tend to redistribute a bit of growth from profits to compensation, something we could use right now, given that the formerly jobless recovery has left these shares far out of balance.

Remember, folks, we've devolved to a point where a congressman chairing a regulatory committee is questioning the constitutionality of the minimum wage. Unless we replace these single-minded deregulators with those who accept and appreciate the need for labor standards, the damage will only deepen.