Ellen Dannin’s two part article in MRZine on the minumum wage is a great example of how RWTT use dubious “research” to back policies that hurt the many to help the few.
What right-wing think tanks say about the minimum wage
Anyone interested in politics should at least occasionally read what Right-Wing Think Tanks (RWTTs) are proposing, for what they advocate shows up as Administration policies. Reading the RWTTs enables us to identify and respond to the same ideas that eventually trickle out of the mouths of Administration spokespeople.
Right-Wing Think Tanks want to eliminate the minimum wage. RWTTs arguments against the minium wage often mention studies and their findings, but rarely provide sufficient information to track down and assess them. Below are some of the most common arguments made by RWTTs.
Challenging right-wing think tank’s “economics-lite”
When arguments turn to economics, most of us (a) flee, (b) fall asleep, or (c) give up and figure it’s just too hard to understand.
But you can stand your ground, even if you have never taken an economics course. What it takes is being curious and willing to ask questions and challenge claims. It also helps to know that most of the pundits of Right-Wing Think Tanks (RWTTs) who fall back on economic claims base them on economics-lite. They use a few facile and sterile ideas and stretch them to fit all situations. These ideas are mere theories (in the pejorative sense of the word), and, unlike scientific theories, they have no evidence to support them. Indeed, when put to the test, these ideas tend to be falsified. That is, the evidence does not support them (more on that below). When your common sense tells you that they seem to be over-simplifying, you are probably right, er, correct.
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