america's minimum wage

!!!!!!!!Americas Minimum Wage

!!!!!!!!

Nick Caggiano !ENGL 138T, Spring 2014

Professor Kyle King !

How much, how soonhow effective?: The case for a moderately increased federal minimum

wage with the potential for a better solution

!2

TABLE OF CONTENTS !

INTRODUCTION 3 ............................................................................................

A History of Minimum Wage in the United States 4 ..............................................................

A Changing Argument 5 .........................................................................................................

TODAYS MINIMUM WAGE RATE DISCUSSION 6 ............................

The Classical Economic Model 6 ............................................................................................

Problems with the Classical Model 9 .......................................................................................

A More Complex Analysis: CBO Report 11 ...........................................................................

A POSSIBLE SOLUTION 14 ..............................................................................

The Federal Minimum Wage Rate Should Be Raised 14 .......................................................

Is Adjusting the Federal Minimum Wage Rate Effective? 17 ..................................................

Conclusions 19 .........................................................................................................................

References 21..........................................................................................................

INTRODUCTION !3

INTRODUCTION !!In January 2014, President Barack Obama issued an executive order raising the minimum wage

for federal contract workers to $10.10 per hour, effective in 2015. However, the scope of this 1

order is limited, and President Obama and other lawmakers are now pushing to achieve a $10.10

federal minimum wage rate, which applies to all workers in the United States, an increase from its

current rate of $7.25 reached in 2009 as a result of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. , 2 3

!Proponents of a minimum wage hike offer varying specifics, from the minimalist $9.00 initially

proposed by President Obama in his 2014 State of the Union address, to a $22.00 rate 4

supported by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren that would correlate the minimum wage

with worker productivity, which has increased greatly since a minimum wage was first instituted

in the United States. In August 2013, several thousand fast food workers organized one-day 5

protests in seven cities across the United States to demand a $15 hourly wage, maintaining that

$7.25 is not enough to live on. The argument for a living wage is the basis for many arguments 6

in favor of increasing the minimum wage. A full-time (40 hours per week) minimum wage worker

will receive an annual salary of $15,080. According to the US Census Bureau, that amount is

enough to support a single person, for which the poverty threshold is $12,119, but not enough to

support a household with one adult and one child, for which the poverty threshold is $16,057. 7

!Some opponents, however, maintain that the minimum wage jobs are not intended to be full-

time, primary positions in the first place. Arguments against a raise in the minimum wage are

mostly based on the belief that an increase in the minimum wage will in fact not benefit as many

INTRODUCTION !4

workers as supporters claim and instead lead to an overall decrease in employment as businesses

react to the increased cost of labor, thus making workers who retain their jobs slightly better off

while many others are laid off. 8

!As the discussion of minimum wage legislation gains momentum, it seems inevitable that the

issue will be addressed with legislative action in the near future. And while President Obama

declares, Its time to give America a raise, the time and the raise are still up in the air. It is a

complex economic issue with many variables to be considered, with one critical question: What

effect will a raise in the federal minimum wage rate actually have on the United States economy?

!A History of Minimum Wage in the United States

Americas legislative commitment to its laborers on a national scale came to fruition in the form

of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, passed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of his

New Deal initiatives after the Great Depression. At the time of its passage, it stipulated an initial 9

federal minimum hourly wage rate of $0.25, with scheduled increases on an established

timetable. After several amendments to the law over the ensuing years, the minimum hourly wage

rate has increased faster than the rate of inflation, reaching its current rate of $7.25 per hour in

2009. Many states and municipalities, however, have independently established minimum wage 10

rates higher than the national rate; Washington state currently has the highest state rate ($9.32

per hour), while the city of San Francisco leads the nation with a minimum wage rate of 11

$10.74. 12

!!

INTRODUCTION !5

A Changing Argument

The economic and societal effects of establishing such a minimum wage have been long

discussed and debated by politicians, economists, and citizens alike. However, before discussion

reached the potential societal and economic implications, minimum wage legislation had to make

it past a more formidable obstacle: the US Supreme Court. Prior to 1938, states had attempted

to enact minimum wage regulations, specifically for the benefit and protection laborers (especially

women and children), who often faced extremely long hours with few breaks and low pay.

Supreme Court cases such as Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923) and Morehead v. New York ex rel.

Tipaldo (1936) repeatedly concluded that neither states nor the federal government had the power

to impose minimum wage regulation on business owners. , , After many months in Congress, 13 14 15

the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 finally passed with the urging of President Roosevelt, and

the Supreme Court had also begun to soften to the idea of a national minimum wage. In contrast, todays discussion of minimum wage legislation, now accepting of the federal

governments authority to institute such legislation, is more grounded in the economic effects

associated with wage rate regulationin essence, is raising the minimum wage rate beneficial to

the state of the economy and the welfare of laborers?

!Due to the variable nature of economics as a social science, multiple conflicting conclusions have

arisen from the analysis of the situation through a variety of economics models and assumptions.

On one side of the spectrum a theory proposes that any increase in the minimum wage rate will

also increase the unemployment rate, thus benefitting only those who retain their jobs as business

owners respond to the increased wage rate by reducing the quantity of labor they contract. As a

TODAYS MINIMUM WAGE RATE DISCUSSION !6

result, the increase in the minimum wage rate will have an overall negative effect on the economy

as a whole, as some workers increase their income while others earn no wage. At the opposite end

of the spectrum a counter argument maintains that the overall increase in unemployment is

negligible and therefore an increase in the minimum wage rate will have an overall positive effect

on the economy and on society. Still other viewpoints are based not on the unemployment

argument but on the competition between unskilled and skilled laborers.

!TODAYS MINIMUM WAGE RATE DISCUSSION !The Classical Economic Model

A foundation of any course in economics includes the laws of supply and demand. These laws

provide a method for analyzing and predicting the behavior of an economic market. In the

context of the labor market, they can be stated as follows:

1. The quantity of labor supplied (the number of workers that are willing to work for a

given price) will increase as the wage rate increases and will decrease as the wage rate

decreases. That is, more people are willing to work for higher wages, and fewer people

are willing to work for lower wages.

2. In contrast, the quantity of labor demanded (the amount of labor hired by firms) will

decrease as the wage rate increases and will increase as the wage rate decreases. That is, as

the cost of labor increases, employers will hire fewer workers as a result of the increased

cost. Conversely, they will hire more workers if at a lower cost.


The outcome of this predicted behavior of the buyers (employers) and sellers (laborers) is that the

market will settle to a wage rate where the employers and laborers effectively meet in the middle.

This is called the market equilibrium, which can be represented by the following graph (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The Labor Market (Classical Model) 16

In Figure 1, a graph of the labor market, the horizontal axis measures the quantity of labor,

while the vertical axis measures the wage rate. The Labor Supply is the green, upwards sloping

line, while the Labor Demand is the blue, downwards sloping line. The behavior of the supply

and demand curves obeys the laws previously describedthe quantity of labor demanded

increases as the wage rate decreases, and the quantity of labor supplied increases as the wage rate

increases. Where the two lines intersect, denoted by the red dashed line, represents the market

equilibrium. At this point, the wage rate is at a level where the employers want to hire the exact

number of laborers at that price as the number of laborers who want to work at that price. This

wage rate is labeled W*, and the quantity of labor supplied/demanded is labeled L*. These

values are theoretical values in our model; the actual wage rate and quantity of labor are

dependent on the specific market being modeled. However, it is important to note the concept of


the model and that it can theoretically be applied to any labor market (well get into the details

later).

!But now lets delve into the big question: what will happen to the classical model when a minimum wage is

imposed? Lets investigate what will happen with another graph.

Figure 2. The Labor Market (Classical Model) with Minimum Wage 17

Figure 2 represents the same model as displayed in Figure 1, only this time a minimum wage has

been imposed on the market, presumably by a regulating authority such as a federal, state, or

local government. This horizontal dashed line represents the level below which the wage rate is

not legally allowed to fall. However, as can be seen on the graph, the employers and workers have

been prevented from reaching the free market wage (the market equilibrium). There is a

discrepancy between the quantity of labor demanded and the quantity of labor supplied. Why

does this occur? According to our laws of supply and demand, employers will want to hire fewer

workers at the higher wage rate (quantity demanded). However, at the same time a greater


number of laborers want to work for the higher wage (quantity supplied). It is important to note

that because businesses are freely allowed to decide how the quantity of labor they hire, only the

quantity of labor demanded by the firms will be hired. Thus, some laborers who would like to

work at the higher minimum wage rate will ultimately not be hired. The difference between the

quantity demanded and the quantity supplied represents the number of unemployed workers in

the market. Hence, in our classical model, we have seen that imposing a minimum wage on the

market has made some workers better off at the expense of rendering other workers unemployed

fewer are hired, but those who are hired receive a higher wage (the minimum wage). Herein

lies the basis for one of the principal arguments against raising the minimum wagethe belief

that a higher price of labor will decrease the quantity of labor hired by businesses, thus leading to

layoffs and increased unemployment across the nation. But how do we actually know that will 18

happen? Is there something our classical model is missing?

!Problems with the Classical Model

A closer analysis of the classical model we have just investigated reveals that while it is an

effective depiction of a labor market for study in an introductory course on economics, it is not

the best picture of an immense nationwide market for laborthe US economy is more complex

than two intersecting lines. A major caveat of the model is that it relies on several major

assumptions about the labor market because it models a perfectly competitive labor market, which

carries strong implications regarding market behavior. One such assumption is that no firm

(employer) has any market power. In other words, no single employer has enough power to have

any influence over the wage ratethe market will settle into an equilibrium, a process driven by

economic forces that cannot be stopped by any one entity. The conclusion that follows is that all


firms are wage-takers. Since no firm has any power to influence the wage rate, it must hire laborers

at the equilibrium price dictated by the market. This critical assumption does not hold in a real

market such as the US labor market. Large firms do existsfor example Walmart and

McDonaldsthat hire vast quantities of low-wage labor. Walmart alone has 1.3 million

employees in the United States alone (2.2 million globally). Such firms that employ millions of 19

workers cannot simply be assumed to have no effect on the market. If a large firm such as

Walmart were to raise its wage rate to, say, $12/hour, it is likely that many workers with $7.25

hourly wages might seek employment at Walmart instead. A dramatic move by a large firm will

likely have an effect on the labor market as a whole, as in this case it may prompt other employers

to raise their wage rates to compete with Walmart (otherwise no one would want to work at those

other businesses at such a low rate). Therein the second part of the assumption has been

invalidated as wellWalmart, and any other employerhas the power to change the wage rate it

pays to its employees (as long as it is not below the federal minimum wage). However, firms are

smart; they wont raise their wage rates since a) it would voluntarily decrease profits, and b) they

realize that any change they make will influence the market as a whole and therefore eliminate

any competitive advantage that is temporarily created.

!Another major assumption of the perfectly competitive labor market is the absence of frictional

forces, forces which do exist in the real economy. Frictional forces are forces that keep laborers 20

in their current jobs. For example, the process of quitting a current job, sending out applications

to other employers, the uncertainty that the laborer will in fact find another job, and the lost

wages in the transitional period are all factors that tend to keep workers in their current positions.

The classical model, since it assumes that these forces do not exist, would thereby predict that if


Walmart increased their wages by even one penny, all laborers would flock to Walmart from their

current positions. This is simply not the case; it is unlikely that a worker at the Burger King down

the street will quit his job for the extra penny an hour. Now of course if Walmart were to

increase its wage rate to $12/hour as previously mentioned, that large increase could overcome

the frictional forces acting on laborers, as the benefit of a much higher wage offsets the cost of

the job transition.

!A More Complex Analysis: CBO Report

The classical, perfectively competitive model is a good starting point, but the multitude of

variables in the US labor market makes it difficult to pin down the expected market behavior. A

typical economics textbook will provide values for the Labor Supply and Labor Demand curves,

which will enable the market equilibriumas well as expected unemploymentto be calculated.

In the real world, determining the exact market supply and demand is near impossible, and yet it

is the very shape of those curves that will determine the equilibrium wage rate and quantity, as

well as the magnitude of the expected unemployment resulting from a minimum wage. Every

business behaves differently, and each will respond differently to a rise in the price of labor in an

effort to preserve its bottom line. A firm that employs a large quantity of low-wage laborers and

for which the cost of labor is a large percentage of its total costs will be affected more by a wage

increase than a firm that employs a relatively small quantity of laborers. The large firm must

increase the wage of thousands or millions of workers, a large cost that the firm may not be able

to absorb, thus prompting the layoff of some workers.

!


However, simply reducing the number of laborers employed is not the action a firm can take to

react to an increased minimum wage rate. Firms may lower costs by reducing worker benefits

such as health insurance, pensions or free meals, by substituting other inputs in place of labor (i.e.

replacing or supplementing humans with automatic machines), by reducing the hours of workers,

by reducing the operational hours of the business and/or its production output, or by passing on

the increased costs to consumers by raising the price of its goods and services. The decisions 21

that a firm makes depend on a variety of factors, such as its financial structure, the type of goods

or services it provides, as well as the market to which it sells its products. In fact, the behavior of

the consumers who buy a companys products can have a significant effect on the firms response

to an increased minimum wage. If consumers will respond to a slight price increase on a

particular product by greatly reducing the quantity they buycalled elastic demandthe firm

wont be able to pass as much of the increased cost of labor to the consumer for fear of losing its

market. The firm may therefore be more prone to lay off workers. However, if the amount of the

good purchased by consumers changes little as a result of a price changecalled inelastic

demandthe firm may raise the price of its product without impacting its sales, thus reducing

the need for layoffs.

!With the large number of variables and unknowns all contributing to the overall economic effect

of minimum wage policy, a more complex analysis is needed to predict the outcome of a

minimum wage hike. That is where the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) comes in. The CBO

has access to a vast amount of United States economic datayears of data for all economic

sectors and for the economy as a whole. In a February 2014 report entitled The Effects of a

Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income, the CBO published its findings on the


effects of a potential federal minimum wage increase. The report analyzed two potential options

for such an increase:

1. $10.10 option - Increase the federal minimum wage in three increments (in 2014, 2015,

and 2016), and upon reaching $10.10 in 2016 the rate would be indexed annually to the

consumer price index to account for inflation.

2. $9.00 option - Increase the federal minimum wage in two increments (in 2015 and

2016), and upon reaching $9.00 in 2016 the rate would not be indexed to the consumer

price index.

!An important different between the two options is not only the dollar amounts but that the

$10.10 option also stipulates that the minimum wage would increase every year to account for

inflation, which continuously erodes the value of the US dollar at a typical rate of 1 to 2 percent

annually. The consumer price index is the statistic used to measure the rate of inflation, so linking

the minimum wage to this index would preserve the value, or purchasing power, of the minimum

wage over time. This is a significant departure from historical precedentalthough lawmakers in

the past have enacted bills with scheduled increases in the minimum wage for future years, never

before has the federal minimum wage rate been directly linked to the rate of inflation to allow for

an automatic yearly increase in the rate.

!In the end, the CBO report concluded that raising the federal minimum wage would probably

result in a reduction of employment across the economy, but not on the large scale suggested by

opponents of a minimum wage hike. CBO estimated that the $10.10 option would cause a loss

of around 500,000 workers, or 0.3% of the labor force, and raise 900,000 people above the

A POSSIBLE SOLUTION !14

poverty threshold, whereas the $9.00 option would cause a loss of around 100,000 workers, 0.1%

of the labor force, and raise 300,000 people above the poverty threshold. However, due to the

inherent uncertainty in the estimation process and in predicting the effect on such a large

economy, CBO also included a probability range for the employment prediction: a two-thirds

chance that the $10.10 option would cause a very slight decrease to a reduction of 1 million

workers and a two-thirds chance that the $9.00 option would cause a very slight decrease to a

reduction of 200,000 workers.

!A POSSIBLE SOLUTION !We have looked at differing viewpoints in the discussion of federal minimum wage rate reform,

and we have now delved into the economic analysis of such reform. The ultimate decision,

however, remains: What should we do? Here one possible course of action to address the United

States minimum wage discussion will be presented, but ultimately minimum wage policy has the

potential to take on a variety of forms before lawmakers can agree on a final approach.

!The Federal Minimum Wage Rate Should Be Raised

The federal minimum wage rate should be raisedgraduallyand it should be indexed to the

consumer price index so that it automatically increases with inflation on an annual basis. The

CBO report indicates that a greater increase in the minimum wage (the $10.10 option) will lift

more people above the poverty threshold and will increase the wages of more workers than the

$9.00 option (which is logical considering that there are more workers receiving less than $10.10/

hour than workers receiving less than $9.00/hour). However, this would occur with a greater


predicted loss of jobsas much as an estimated 1 million for the $10.10 option as compared to

up to 200,000 for the $9.00, although no one can say for sure. So which one should lawmakers

choose?

!The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 increased the federal minimum wage rate incrementally

from $5.15, ending at $7.25 effective July 24, 2009. In the years since 2009, however, inflation

has eroded the buying power of that $7.25; it would take $7.99 in 2014 dollars to match the

value of $7.25 in 2009 dollars. In order to preserve the value of $7.25 in 2009, assuming a high 22

rate of inflation of 3% annually, the minimum wage rate would have to be set at $8.48 in 2016,

an amount that is more closely in alignment with the $9.00 option considered in the CBO report

(which would reach $9.00 in 2016).

!The $9.00 option could be a viable route of action after one modification: indexing to the

consumer price index to adjust for future inflation. A rate of $9.00 preserves the value of the last

minimum wage change and adds an additional $0.50 or so on top. However, without future

adjustment for inflation the value of the wage will simply decrease again, as it has after all prior

minimum wage increases. If the federal minimum wage seeks to preserve the welfare of low-

wage workers, it at least needs to preserve the value of the wage over time. A once annual

adjustment for inflation, which could amount to a roughly $0.25 increase per year under 3%

inflation, would preserve the real value of the wage while also potentially eliminating the need to

reconsider the minimum wage rate repeatedly.

!


Another key feature of the $9.00 option (and any minimum wage increase) is to increase the

minimum graduallyto $8.10 on July 1, 2015 and $9.00 a year thereafter. This gradual increase

is important for businesses, because budget and resource planning takes time. While low-wage

workers should receive a wage increase, businesses should also be granted ample time to plan for

rising costs and to determine their own actions. A sharp increase in the minimum wage too

quickly could cause firms to lay off even more workers due, as that is one of the easiest ways to

reduce operating costs quickly. However, if a business has more time to determine how best to

compensate for the increased price of labor, it may be able to retain for workers in the long run.

Firms would also be able to plan better for future increases as the rate is adjusted for inflation, as

each incremental change would likely be in the neighborhood of a quarter per hour, and firms

would be able to anticipate that annual change.

!Advocates for a federal minimum wage of $10.10 (or more) could be dissatisfied with such a

compromise, but they would likely agree with indexing the minimum wage to the consumer price

index. Opponents of raising the minimum wage, on the other hand, hopefully will be able to

understand the need to preserve the value of the wage if they agree that the minimum wage

should exist in the first place. After all, what is the benefit of the minimum wage if it does not

accomplish the task it was designed to doprotect the welfare of low-wage workers? Another

caveat is that, with President Obamas order to raise the minimum wage of federal contract

workers to $10.10, regular minimum wage workers may feel slighted. Still, some increase is better

than none, and a gradual increase to a $9.00 minimum wage could serve as an effective

compromise between the raise or hold arguments on minimum wage and therefore be more

likely to pass through Congress and onto the desk of President Obama.


Is Adjusting the Federal Minimum Wage Rate Effective?

After all the discussion of the federal minimum wage, there is still another question to be

addressed: Is adjusting the federal minimum wage rate the most effective option for preserving

worker welfare in the first place? Certainly it is effective to some extentit ensures that all

workers in the United States (except for those working in certain exempt industries) are paid at

least that rate. However, adjustment of the federal minimum wage rate, while necessary, could be

supplemented with more state and local level regulation of minimum wages. The federal rate is a

catch-all solution, relying on national averages of the cost of living in order to establish a fair

rate. But the cost of livingincluding food, housing, transportation, and other commodities

varies drastically across the United States. In general, it costs more to live in urban areas than in

rural areas. So why not make the minimum wage in New York City, where goods cost on average

20 to 30 percent more than the national average, greater than the minimum wage in central

Pennsylvania, where the cost of living is comparatively lower? In fact, some cities and states have

enacted their own minimum wage rates to account for the local cost of living.

!A report from New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, published in July 2013, makes the case

for implementing a minimum wage in New York City to compensate for the citys high cost of

living. 23

!


Figure 3. Nominal Minimum Wage Rate23

Figure 3 shows the minimum wage rates set by selected cities in the United States as compared to

the federal minimum wage rate of $7.25 (the horizontal line).

Figure 4. Effective Minimum Wage Rate (Adjusted for Cost of Living)23


At $10.55, San Franciscos minimum wage is the highest in the nation, but when that rate is

adjusted for the citys higher cost of living, it is only $6.27. The same calculation for New York

City yields a meager $4.00.

!It seems that the more important argument surrounding minimum wage regulationespecially if

it is a tool to ensure worker welfareshould focus on the effective minimum wage rate, which

varies widely across the nation. A federal minimum wage baseline is still a good idea, but states

and cities are able to implement minimum wage policies that correspond with their respective

costs of living. If more states and municipalities set their own minimum wage, perhaps the

federal rate wouldnt be as much of an issue. It is true that raising the minimum wage in a

locality could prompt more workers to commute to that location from areas where it costs less to

live, and as a result the increased local minimum wage may not benefit as many people who

actually live in the locality where the cost of living is high. However, state and local minimum

wage policy should at least be included in the discussion of Americas minimum wage, as

although it may not be the best option everywhere, with further refinement and development it

could prove to be a more effective policy tool in the future.

!Conclusions

Economics is a social science. The study of economics in situations such as the federal minimum

wage rate discussion can help guide lawmakers in crafting policy that they believe will have a

positive impact on the US economy. However, while economic analysis can give us a numerical

indication of the outcome of policy, its results are as much qualitative as they are quantitative.

The analysis of humanand corporatebehavior cannot be precisely rationalized with great


certainty, although economics strives to achieve rationalization of decision making to some

degree. Therefore, it is ultimately impossible to predict the precise outcome of any policy change,

and even after the policy is implemented it could still be difficult to discern its effect due to the

presence of many colluding variables in the scheme of the vast United States economy.

Additionally, political views have as much to do with minimum wage policy as economics

perhaps even more so. Any legislation will have to be agreed on by members from both major

political parties, and the outcome will likely be a middle ground between two poles. However,

regardless of the political debate surrounding Americas minimum wage, hopefully the

underlying economics of the issue will provide a more grounded method for attempting to

evaluate the results of any potential policy implementation.

!!

!21

References (all accessed April 2014)

"Obama to Raise Minimum Wage for Contractors to $10.10" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/12014-01-28/obama-to-raise-minimum-wage-for-contractors-to-10-10.html "With Eye on Midterms, Obama Pushes rise in Minimum Wage" http://www.nytimes.com/2

2014/03/06/us/politics/obama-presses-case-for-higher-minimum-wage.html?_r=0 "What is the minimum wage?" http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/001.htm3 "The impact of a $9 minimum wage http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/12/news/economy/obama-4

minimum-wage/ "$22 minimum wage: Elizabeth Warren pays $7.19 for 'a No. 11 at McDonalds'" http://5

www.examiner.com/article/22-minimum-wage-elizabeth-warren-pays-7-19-for-a-no-11-at-mcdonald-s "Will fast-food protests spur higher minimum wage? http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/6

2013/08/05/will-fast-food-protests-spur-higher-minimum-wage/2620385/ Poverty http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/threshld/index.html7 "The Minimum Wage Delusion, And The Death of Common Sense" http://www.forbes.com/sites/8

jamesdorn/2013/05/07/the-minimum-wage-delusion-and-the-death-of-common-sense/ "New Deal Achievements" http://www.fdrheritage.org/new_deal.htm9 "History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938-2009" http://10

www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm "State Minimum Wages | 2014 Minimum Wage By State" http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-11

employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx "Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO)" http://sfgsa.org/index.aspx?page=41112 "Troubled passage: the labor movement and the Fair Labor Standards Act http://13

www.thefreelibrary.com/Troubled+passage%3A+the+labor+movement+and+the+Fair+Labor+Standards+Act.-a072273662

"Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923)" http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/capitalism/14landmark_adkins.html

"Morehead v. New York ex rel. Tipaldo - 298 U.S. 587 (1936) http://supreme.justia.com/cases/15federal/us/298/587/case.html

"The Classical Production and the Labor Market http://people.rit.edu/jdbgse/Documents%20402/16CN_intromacro_3.pdf

[Image] http://www.policynote.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Standard-min-wage-graph1.png17 "Why some economists oppose minimum wages" http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-18

explains/2014/01/economist-explains-11 "The 10 largest employers in America" http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/19

2013/08/22/ten-largest-employers/2680249/ The impossibility of a perfectly competitive labour market http://cje.oxfordjournals.org/content/20

31/5/775.full.pdf+html "The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income" http://www.cbo.gov/21

sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/44995-MinimumWage.pdf "CPI Inflation Calculator http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm22 Working But Still Struggling: The Case for a New York City Minimum Wage http://23

comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/documents/NYC_MinimumWage.pdf

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