Salario Mínimo y desocupación

Thomas Sowell, con la claridad y el sentido común de siempre, sobre las leyes de salario mínimo y el principio universal de que nada es gratis en la vida.

Tal vez la gran diferencia entre el populismo de países como Argentina y el de países como EEUU sea que en EEUU se suele aprender de los errores del pasado:

It was a common political move when Chicago's city council voted recently to impose a $10 an hour minimum wage on big-box retailers. There is nothing that politicians like better than handing out benefits to be paid for by someone else.

What was uncommon was the reaction. Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley denounced the bill as "redlining," since it would have the net effect of keeping much-needed stores and jobs out of black neighborhoods. Both Chicago newspapers also denounced the bill.

The crowning touch came when Andrew Young, former civil rights leader and former mayor of Atlanta, went to Chicago to criticize local black leaders who supported this bill.

While the $10 an hour minimum wage was politics as usual, the unusual backlash against it provides at least a glimmer of hope that more people are beginning to consider the economic consequences of such feel-good legislation.