The Dispute Over the Minimum Wage

The case for an increase in the federal minimum wage has long been persuasive. The wage floor of $3.35 an hour has not been raised for eight years; adjusted for inflation, its purchasing power has fallen to its lowest level since 1955. As the wage floor has deteriorated, the number of people who work but live in poverty has risen, and there has been growing evidence of stagnating or declining standards of living among many of the near poor and the middle class.

Two arguments—one old ...