A Basic Income Is Smarter Than a Minimum Wage
&gt; No one wants to hire them at a high minimum wage, especially when locals are readily available<p>The main drawback to a minimum wage is that it artificially increases the cost of labor, to the point where it&#x27;s no longer worth it to an employer to hire a low-output employee. I think we&#x27;d all agree that increasing employment is a good goal, but an increased minimum wage actually hinders progress on that front. As the minimum wage increases, robots and other non-human investments start to look much, much more attractive. Many businesses would be happy to hire workers for less than minimum wage, but legally cannot, and so do not hire.<p>Of course, it&#x27;s a complicated issue. Look at the employment of those with disabilities like Down Syndrome [0], for example. Are these employees worth hiring at $7.50&#x2F;hour? No, for the most part, they&#x27;re not. Are some? Sure, but on average there&#x27;s no way. But are they worth hiring at $2.00&#x2F;hour? Yes, and they and their families are willing for them to work at that wage, because there are huge benefits to being productively employed.<p>Recently these programs are coming &quot;under attack&quot; in various states. New Hampshire just made this practice illegal, for example [1]. We&#x27;ll see how it plays out -- my bet is that a) few news outlets will follow up in a few years and see how many of these disabled workers are able to find new employment, and b) few disabled workers will be able to do so.<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.witf.org&#x2F;news&#x2F;2014&#x2F;07&#x2F;thousands-of-disabled-workers-in-pa-paid-far-below-minimum-wage.php" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.witf.org&#x2F;news&#x2F;2014&#x2F;07&#x2F;thousands-of-disabled-worke...</a><p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.care2.com&#x2F;causes&#x2F;new-hampshire-bans-subminimum-wage-for-people-with-disabilities.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.care2.com&#x2F;causes&#x2F;new-hampshire-bans-subminimum-wa...</a>