Once in a while, there is something so dunderheaded that the negative impact will be seen almost immediately. The Chicago City Council has just provided us with such a moment:
The measure requires retailers with more than $1 billion in annual sales and stores of at least 90,000 square feet to pay workers at least $10 an hour in wages plus $3 an hour in fringe benefits by mid-2010. The current minimum wage in Illinois is $6.50 an hour and the federal minimum is $5.15.
So long, Wal-Mart and Target and who knows what else. Goodbye to the entry-level jobs so many people want. Goodbye to reasonable prices for shoppers of modest means. This was done by a bunch of Democratic alderman who I presume make a lot of speeches about "sticking up for the little guy."
But this is just a dramatic example of government thinking it's smarter than the marketplace. Usually, the jobs are lost in small increments, every time a state or the federal government nudges up the minimum wage.
I'm dating myself, but the first job I had in Fort Wayne (other than delivering newspapers) was as an usher at the old Jefferson Theater, for 55 cents an hour. I left there after a few months to make more at McDonald's -- 85 cents an hour and all the French fries I could eat. Even for then, those were appalling wages for people trying to raise families. But, guess what? That wasn't who had those jobs. And it isn't now.
Dunderheads.
