Should-Read: Barry Ritholtz: Putting the Minimum Wage Debate into Context

Should-Read: Barry Ritholtz: Putting the Minimum Wage Debate into Context: “The modern minimum-wage debate traces back to… Krueger and… Card…

…In the fast-food industry… no reduction in job growth in the market where pay was increased…. Many subsequent studies confirmed… [taht] modest increases in minimum wages don’t lead to job losses….The extent to which taxpayers subsidize profitable public companies that game the safety net is serious business. One study noted that U.S. fast-food workers receive more than $7 billion a year in public assistance; another pegged the Wal-Mart taxpayer subsidy at more than $6 billion. Alan Grayson, a former congressman from Florida, observed:

In state after state, the largest group of Medicaid recipients is Walmart employees… the same thing is true of food stamp recipients. Each Walmart ‘associate’ costs the taxpayers an average of more than $1,000 in public assistance.

Politifact reviewed his claims and found them to be “mostly true.” The economic impact of modest increases in the minimum wage may be well-established, but you wouldn’t know this based on the claims of opponents.