Economists aren't certain about many things, but on the minimum wage, most of them believe the case is open and shut.
Businesses have choices.
Even textbooks written by such appointees of the Clinton administration as Alan Blinder and Joseph Stiglitz tell college freshmen this simple truth. So it's no surprise that a 1993 survey found that 77 percent of the 22,000 members of the American Economics Association believe a higher minimum wage reduces employment. Unfortunately, however, surveys of the public find similar proportions in favor of a higher minimum wage. Probably because the public simply sees benefits and not costs. But the costs are profound, not merely in lost jobs but in lost liberties.