But the battle wages on...

From the AP, online:

NEW YORK - More than 650 economists, including five winners of the Nobel Prize for economics, called Wednesday for an increase in the minimum wage, saying the value of the last increase, in 1997, has been “fully eroded.”
Economists including Nobel prize winners Kenneth Arrow of Stanford University, Lawrence Klein of the University of Pennsylvania, Robert Solow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Joseph Stiglitz at Columbia University and Clive Granger of the University of California, San Diego said in a statement released Wednesday that the real value of today’s federal minimum wage is less than it has been at any time since 1951.

“We believe that a modest increase in the minimum wage would improve the well-being of low-wage workers and would not have the adverse effects that critics have claimed,” the economists wrote.

Critics of a minimum wage hike have contended a higher minimum wage lead employers to cut jobs or move them offshore. They also say that many minimum wage earners are teenagers working after-school jobs.

The economists disagreed, writing that a phased-in increase in the federal minimum wage to $7.25 “falls well within the range of options where the benefits to the labor market, workers, and the overall economy would be positive.”

The economists wrote that they share the view of a 1999 Council of Economic Advisors Economic report that found “the weight of the evidence suggests that modest increases in the minimum wage have had very little or no effect on employment.”

The economists wrote, “While controversy about the precise employment effects of the minimum wage continues, research has shown that most of the beneficiaries are adults, most are female, and the vast majority are members of low-income working families.”

Hmm, so if 650 economists, including 5 Noble Prize in Economics winners, say it, does it make more palatable? Does it make more sense to those disbelievers? Are they convinced, or persuaded? I don't know, but come November 8, when the Democrats have the House we'll have legislation raising the minimum wage introduced (well, not actually until January, when the new Congress is seated I suppose), and then we'll see if the economy collapses around our feet and all those unforunate poor people who don't any better and take the increase, we'll see if they're better off making more or less money.

POLT = listening to "When You're Good To Mama" form the Chicago Soudntrack

You shot an arrow through my wrist, so forgive me if I'm being pissy! - The Riddler, Green Arrow #37

Should I be concerned that this is my 1313 post, and I'm posting it on Friday the 13th?