Actually I wrote about minimum wage on my blog, here's a little excerpt. Basically sums up most of my opinion on the matter....
The case for a Minimum Wage is obvious, but nonetheless in need of being restated. Many economically authoritarian elements within the country see the issue not as of merely a 'minimum' in the sense of absolute bottom threshold but more as a "Living Wage." [1] Namely, If the minimum wage went up at least to $7, or better still to near $10 an hour, millions would be lifted out of poverty - by last estimates. Those estimates, I hasten to assure people skeptical of the so-called 'economists' these days, are not exactly exact and have their share of criticism.
The other benefit, say supporters, is that it is inherently racist to not support it. That indeed a minimum wage can bring up minorities from poverty, as long as the minimum wage is high enough. [3] There is wide consensus, even among some conservatives, that a Minimum Wage helps out certain minorities - mostly excluding affluent Asian American populations - to get a leg up in life. While there is no direct correlation between race (size of minorities within a state) and adoption of minimum wage laws. [2] One must keep in mind the persistence of the belief - on both sides of the aisle - indicate that such a statistic doesn't tell the full story, or at the very least shows that Minimum Wage opponents are not as divided by race as first thought.
Speaking of which, the opposition does seem to be large and well organized. Mainly concering themselves with an attack through the plain technical economics aspects - not the race preference of this (alleged) silver bullet for poverty. The Independent Institute reports that In an American Economic Review poll, 90 percent of economists agreed that minimum wage laws increase unemployment among low-skilled workers." [6] While initially I was skeptical of such a number, the sheer amount of articles and economic institutes dedicated to looking at various topics - like Minimum Wage - who disliked it made such a figure low; if anything. The Ludwig von Mises Institute (Located in Mobile, Alabama) says that "Tragically, a higher minimum wage and workplace-safety regulations are likely to exacerbate rather than mitigate social inequalities." [5] While The Heritage Foundation declares that "it doesn’t just take away current jobs, but also future job opportunities." Indeed, any effort to find any sort of true - socially liberal - economic reports on the subject mostly makes the case 'it doesn't affect enough workers to hurt the economy,' [7] which to me: sounds like acceptance that a Minimum Wage hurts economic growth but not enough to change anything (hopefully). Though even ACORN (famous for last year's Registration of The Year Award after they got Mickey Mouse registered for the Democrat Party) has made the case that higher minimum wages prevents them from hiring more people. [8]
Economic critics also make the case that minimum wage doesn't actually improve employment, overall. Indeed, there is ample evidence that minimum wage laws hurt employment. [9] [10] For indeed, of the top 15 employment rates only one (Iowa, at #5) has a minimum wage higher then Federally mandated, while four have one lower (Wyoming #3, New Mexico #7, Kansas #12, Arkansas #13). The majority do have one at par with the Federal level, but that is constantly attacked as to low while most who have a higher minimum wage all but have a monopoly on high unemployment (7 out the 10 highest unemployment rates have higher minimum wages).
The case is also made by the Austrian School redoubt, no less, called the Ludwig von Mises Institute [4] (along with a collection of similarly minded institutions, such as the Libertarian Party of America) that a minimum wage is actually somewhat racist. In short, that it is hard for a (Mises.org's example) reformed black convict (with a special emphasis on the high incarceration levels of African-American males) who is clean, looking for a little work while he picks his life back up to compete against some rich, white, frat boy. Because, to be perfectly blunt, if the convict can't undercut the lazy frat boy's wage then he won't be hired.
[1]
A Moral Minimum Wage
[2]
(Page 10 of 24) - Race and Policy Responsiveness in an Era of SubtleRetrenchment authored by Beamer, Glenn.
[3]
Higher Minimum Wage Can Lift Minorities
[4]
http://mises.org/story/3261
[5]
Minimum WageMaximum Nonsense: Newsroom: The Independent Institute
[6]
Minimizing Economic Opportunity by Raising the Minimum Wage
[7]
The Economic Effects of the Minimum Wage
[8]
RealClearPolitics - Commentary - Liberal Doublespeak on the Minimum Wage by Bruce Bartlett
[9]
Unemployment Rates for States
