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Insightful weekly commentary on news & current events from economist Antony Davies and political scientist James R. Harrigan.

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“You Just Hate the Poor!” and Other Minimum Wage Misunderstandings

February 6, 2019

Fun fact: the profit margin for most businesses is about 8 percent. When you’re talking about categories like restaurants and retail stores, that margin drops to around 2 percent. Yet, some people still seem to believe that all companies are perfectly capable of simply absorbing dramatic increases in their operating costs—namely, labor—with no changes in behavior by these companies. Artificially inflating labor costs, as in the form of minimum wage increases, will not lead to decreased hours, lay-offs, deferred hiring, decreases in benefits, or increased prices for consumers because… reasons. And if you voice disagreement with any of these beliefs, then you must just hate the poor or other ad hominem claims. But who really “hates” the poor based on actual policy outcomes, the #FightFor15 crowd or those who oppose minimum wage hikes? Join Antony Davies and James Harrigan as they dig into this and more on this week’s episode of Words and Numbers.

Quick hits

AOC ruffles feathers

Lyft offers free rides to shelters

Foolishness of the week

Seeing racism where it’s not

Topic of the week: “You Just Hate the Poor!” and Other Minimum Wage Misunderstandings

Analysis of Minimum Wage in Pennsylvania

Census data on household incomes

Bureau of Labor Statistics data on minimum wage workers

A $15 minimum wage hurts workers

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