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"Economists agree: Raising the minimum wage reduces poverty"
Economists agree: Raising the minimum wage reduces povertyBy Mike Konczal at the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/01/04/economists-agree-raising-the-minimum-wage-reduces-poverty/
"SNIP................................
But instead of diving into that controversy, lets take a look at where these economists, and all the other researchers investigating the minimum wage, do agree: They all tend to think that raising the minimum wage would reduce poverty. Thats the conclusion of a major new paper by Dube, titled Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes.
Lets first highlight the major results. Dube uses the latest in minimum-wage statistics and finds a negative relationship between the minimum wage and poverty. Specifically, raising the minimum wage 10 percent (say from $7.25 to near $8) would reduce the number of people living in poverty 2.4 percent. (For those who thrive on jargon, the minimum wage has an elasticity of -0.24 when it comes to poverty reduction.)
Using this as an estimate, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, as many Democrats are proposing in 2014, would reduce the number of people living in poverty by 4.6 million. It would also boost the incomes of those at the 10th percentile by $1,700. Thats a significant increase in the quality of life for our worst off that doesnt require the government to tax and spend a single additional dollar. And, given that this policy is self-enforcing with virtually no administrative costs while challenging the employers market power, it is a powerful complement to the rest of the policies the government uses to boost the living standards of the worst off, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, food stamps, Medicaid, etc.
....
As many economists have argued, the minimum wage substantially held up the lower tail of the U.S. earnings distribution through the late 1970s, but this effect stopped as the real value of the minimum wage fell in subsequent decades. This gives us an empirical handle on how the minimum wage would help deal with both insufficient low-end wages and inequality, and the results are striking.
..................................SNIP"
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"Economists agree: Raising the minimum wage reduces poverty" (Original Post)
applegrove
Jul 2014
OP
LOL. I can hear the editor at the WP reading this and yelling, "STOP THE PRESSES!!11!1!"
PSPS
Jul 2014
#2
Who really believes that Washington DC/the GOP <<wants>> to reduce poverty?!?!
blkmusclmachine
Jul 2014
#4
newfie11
(8,159 posts)1. DUH!
I'm sorry but I think that would be a no brainer.
applegrove
(118,642 posts)3. The length the author had to go to
to deem scientifically that water is indeed wet is astounding though.
PSPS
(13,594 posts)2. LOL. I can hear the editor at the WP reading this and yelling, "STOP THE PRESSES!!11!1!"
Mon dieu! More income = less poverty! Why, this is groundbreaking!1!!1
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)4. Who really believes that Washington DC/the GOP <<wants>> to reduce poverty?!?!
By most accounts, it appears they want to INCREASE poverty for the 99%.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)5. punishing the poor is the thing in washington today...I just don't get it...I really don't...
punishing the sick, the poor, the alien, the hungry...what did Jesus say about them?
kellywestlund
(44 posts)6. And it creates real economic stimulus
Protecting earned benefits and increasing the minimum wage will put money into the pockets of people who will spend it, creating real economic stimulus that just doesnt happen when rich people get more tax cuts.