Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
The empirical evidence that I've seen suggests that the sorts of effects predicted by classical economics -- and you're going to have to take that class to find out what they are -- are not actually borne out. If they were, I would be more inclined to support repeal of minimum wage laws.
Surely demand for such labor falls as the price rises. But it doesn't fall off a cliff.
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What those studies show is that small increases to the minimum wage do not have the predicted effect of reducing employment in the affected positions. But I'm not sure you can extrapolate those results to show that employers currently paying below minimum wage to illegal immigrants would employ the same number of legal employees at a much higher wage if forced to do so.
On the second point, it could at the point when employing anyone becomes economically inviable. Ask any former manager in Pittsburgh.
