by Dread Pirate Roberts 
March 25, 2024

Writer’s note: this forum is devoted to absolute freedom of speech and mind. One such motivation was the refusal to publish this piece to other sites. We now publish it to hail a victory in the battle(but not the war) against censorship. Thanks for reading ❤

Greedy corporations, evil businessmen, and savage capitalism. These are all popular narratives held amongst most students at Lab and, most notably, the editorial board of The Midway. Throughout all this strongly worded opposition it becomes increasingly difficult to have faith in markets and their practical applications to everyday life, especially minimum wage.

The minimum wage is a farce supported by the idea that markets and businesses will exploit workers if they are allowed. On the contrary, however, the implementation of the minimum wage has had many adverse consequences and increases economic disparities.

In fact, several data points prove that the minimum wage decreases employment while placing the burden of higher wages on businesses, crowding out smaller businesses and decreasing employment.

The explanation for the resulting consequences of the minimum wage is as follows: Businesses are forced to pay a minimum price for the labor of a worker. The worker, in turn, must produce the sufficient amount of labor for the business to be profitable, otherwise the business risks bankruptcy.
The business or employer must then only hire workers they believe will be highly productive, disproportionately denying many who either cannot be burdened with working a full time or less experienced workers a job under the concern they cannot produce the sufficient amount of labor required to be profitable for the business. In some cases the minimum wage even prevents harder working employees from earning more because expenses are being put toward paying minimum wage for less productive employees.

Source: iza.org 

One study in 2022 even suggests that an increase of minimum wage in Montgomery would lead to the loss of 47,000 jobs, Most of which are low-wage positions.

Additionally, the minimum wage strips individuals of their autonomy. By exempting businesses from allowing themselves to hire who they see fit the minimum wage infringes on fundamental liberties.

Murray Rothbard, a renowned Austrian economist once wrote ”[L]iberals are supposed to be in favor of any voluntary actions performed, as the famous cliche goes, by ‘two consenting adults.’ Yet it is peculiar that while liberals are in favor of any sexual activity engaged in by two consenting adults, when these consenting adults engage in trade or exchange, the liberals step in to harass, cripple, restrict, or prohibit that trade. And yet both the consenting sexual activity and the trade are similar expressions of liberty in action.”
By restricting the wages paid to a worker, the minimum wage is fundamentally disallowing anyone to engage in full voluntarism. The minimum wage intrudes on liberties by interfering with any trade that two consenting adults may take part in, restricting their exchange to a certain minimum dollar amount. Why should we not allow people to exchange freely amongst themselves?

As of now, the minimum wage is nearly uncontested in Chicago politics but we should prevent the devastating effects of its continuous raise.

In pursuit of a growth of economic and personal wealth, the minimum wage should be abolished and the free market should decide fair wages.