Although I understand why quite some people believe that there should be some kind of official minimum wage and why the Democrats have voted to raise the minimum wage recently I have to say that as a moderate liberal conservative (I say moderate because, among other reasons, I’m not a ‘typical’ liberal conservative: one could say that I am less conservative on quite some issues than most liberal conservatives), I have the tendency to oppose any increase in an official minimum wage. In fact, quite like classical liberals, I am not so sure whether an official minimum wage should exist. At all.
Regarding the United States I have some questions c.q. other concerns. Chief among them is this: if one believes that the government should be able to determine a minimum wage, why should it be the federal government? Why not let individual states decide about the matter? Isn’t it true that the costs of living differ throughout the United States? Wouldn’t it, then, make sense to let individual states determine the minimum wage in their territory?
If one wants to fight or even end poverty and if one believes that raising the minimum wage is a means of doing so, why not do so at a state level? Besides being more effective it seems to me, it is also, in my opinion, more democratic to do so.
Your thoughts on this?
Please debate.
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