BrianGarst.com

Federal minimum wage rises to $6.55 today

About 2 million Americans get a raise Thursday as the federal minimum wage rises 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to consumers.

You don’t say.

The increase, from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour, is the second of three annual increases required by a 2007 law. Next year’s boost will bring the federal minimum to $7.25 an hour.

Workers like Walter Jasper, who earns minimum wage at a car wash in Nashville, Tenn., are happy to take the raise, but will still struggle with the higher gas and food prices hammering Americans.

The worker whose potential job was lost to help pay for mandated, above-market rates to the Walter Jasper ‘s of the country won’t be identified in this article, because his or her name will never be known. Those who pay the cost of such foolish polices like minimum wage laws are not as readily identifiable as those who benefit, even though that cost is significantly higher.

The surest way to create a surplus is to raise the price of something beyond its market rate. The question is, why does government insist on creating a surplus of labor (otherwise known as unemployment)? How many more people has the federal government just prevented from ever getting their foot in the door and from gaining valuable experience that would lead to much greater rewards in the future? We’ll never know, but at least Walter Jasper got his $0.70 raise.