“Here’s my question to supporters of higher minimum wages: How compassionate is it to create legislation that destroys an earning opportunity? Again, making $21,000 a year as a cashier is no great shakes, but it’s better than going on welfare, needing unemployment compensation or idleness. Why would anybody work for $21,000 a year if he had a higher-paying alternative? Obviously, the $21,000-a-year job is his best known opportunity. How compassionate is it to call for a government policy that destroys a person’s best opportunity? I say it’s cruel.”
It deprives the most vulnerable from employment by increasing the pool of labor, which gives the employer greater power to discriminate as to who he chooses to hire.
He could also employ a robot. Remember, the real minimum wage is zero.
