The Case for a Local Minimum Wage

In the last couple of weeks, national politicians have begun to talk seriously about economic inequality and increasing the income of the working poor. "It's well past the time to raise a minimum wage," President Obama said in an economic address last week. "It will be good for our economy. It will be good for our families."

Democrats in both the House and the Senate have proposed a hike from the current $7.25 to $10.10, with further increases pegged to inflation. This is a much-needed jump. But even at the new rate, full-time minimum wage employees would earn just 37 percent of the median full-time wage across America, as University of Massachusetts Amherst economist Arindrajit Dube pointed out in a recent New York Times op-ed. Real purchasing power would still be much lower than it was several decades ago.