MW-10: Why The Federal Minimum Wage Should be Increased to $10/Hour in 2014

“Raising the minimum wage will raise prices!” “Raising the minimum wage will increase unemployment!” “Raising the minimum wage will stifle the free market!” “Raising the minimum wage will close businesses!” “Raising the minimum wage is unfair to hard workers!” “Raising the minimum wage will increase poverty” “Raising the minimum wage is un-American!” “Raising the minimum wage will kill incentives to advance!” And the list goes on-and-on, mostly from people who truly believe that the minimum wage, and an increase in that wage, will spell economic disaster. Their motives are generally honest, and their arguments sincere. However, the evidence does not support these arguments. What we call a minimum wage, supposedly the floor on which people can stand while they work their way up in the free-market system, has become a sub-minimum cellar where workers cannot access the free market at all. Corporate power to keep wages artificially low at the bottom of the income ladder has effectively killed the free market at that level. This booklet describes how an increase of the minimum wage to $10/hour not only improves the life of millions of Americans, but energizes the free market and brings entire communities and regions closer to prosperity - not just for a few weeks, but over the long term.