In praise of government intervention, a recent letter-writer opines that he cannot imagine the U.S. without minimum wage and Social Security laws to guarantee care for those in need. To the contrary, these policies, like most governmental interference with the free market, are a source of serious harm. Minimum wage laws increase unemployment by setting a wage floor below which workers cannot be paid. Persons whose work is worth less than the minimum wage-and there are millions-will not be hired. This most harms the young, ill-educated poor who are denied entry level jobs from which they can learn responsibility and the discipline of the workplace.
It is no accident that the strongest proponents of the minimum wage are labor unions, whose raison d`etre is to protect their members from competition from people who are willing to work for less.
Social Security requires all workers to pay the government 13 percent of their wages without any guarantee of future repayment. None but the foolish would voluntarily accept this deal, but the federal government compels workers to, like it or not. Moreover, the system generally pays more to current beneficiaries than they contributed, thus mortgaging the future of current contributors.
And the whole rationale behind this income-transfer system-the idea that Americans are so simple-minded that they will fail to provide for their retirement-is not only patronizing but belied by reality.
