Reader Gary Radwanski’s explanation of conservative logic regarding the minimum wage (Voice, April 5) must have been tongue in cheek; it is the strongest argument I have seen to date in favor of raising the minimum wage.
His argument–that a $3-an-hour worker competing with a $5.15-an-hour worker for a $5.15 job is somehow cheated out of a job–defies common sense. In the cruel and greed-driven world Mr. Radwanski describes, the more-skilled $5.15 worker would still get the job, but he would only be paid $3!
The very idea that one worker is worth $3 and the other $5.15 is itself ridiculous. One person’s work is worth exactly what the market is willing to pay for it.
In the case of minimum-wage jobs, ask any businessman: If the minimum wage were lowered to $3, no businessman would pay more than $3. And if people are really paid what they’re worth, why aren’t teachers paid $50 an hour?
