Blog

Governor's opening bid in collective bargaining: raise wages and raise taxes

Gov. Inslee’s May 17 speech to the Washington Federation of State Employees got rave reviews from those in attendance. No surprise there. “It’s just clear to me that it’s unacceptable that state employees have gone so long without a general pay increase,” the governor told a cheering crowd of about 500 Federation Policy Committee delegates Saturday […]

"Day of Action" for $15 minimum wage, union-backed strikes and the risks of urban progressivism

Another day of fast-food “strikes” inspired and promoted by labor unions to set a $15 minimum wage. (KING 5 has video of the Seattle activity.) Josh Eidelson, a former union organizer, writes at Salon about the day’s events. The actions, which will be announced at a noon press event in Manhattan, were discussed this week in New […]

Here's another employment chart

Here is another employment chart using data that the Employment Security Department released today. This chart shows employment separately for the Seattle metro area (defined as King and Snohomish counties) and the balance of the state since February 2008, which is the month statewide employment hit its pre-recession peak. Seattle area employment peaked in August […]

Bill Gates on raising the minimum wage: "I worry about what that does to job creation"

So should we all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkh6ovLgUWE Additional comments from Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post.  

Minimum wage lessons for Seattle's $15 won't be learned by looking at other cities

Earlier we looked at the wrangling over the effects of raising the minimum wage. When theory fails to provide clarity, a look at reality is appealing. So it’s not surprising that the Seattle Times seeks to learn lessons from San Francisco’s highest-in-the-nation $10.74 municipal minimum wage. The Times interviewed economists who have studied the effects, […]

Economists wrangle over $10.10 minimum wage, CFOs say increase will slow hiring

Among the challenges faced by policymakers (and that includes voters) trying to determine the effects of raising the minimum wage is sorting through the flood of conflicting information. Much of the conflict comes because people who are supposedly talking about the same thing are not, really, talking about the same thing. There’s a difference between […]

Seattle's $15 minimum wage debate heats up; Jordan Royer article in Crosscut provides needed perspective

The Seattle City Council and the Mayor’s Income Inequality Advisory Committee held a joint public hearing last night on the $15 minimum wage proposal. The Seattle Times has the story. It sounds like quite a show. About 700 people, many wearing red T-shirts with “15” on the front, cheered calls to enact a pay increase […]

A look at why Texas reinstated R&D tax incentives demonstrates why Washington should not let them expire

Effective January 1, 2014, Texas once again offers tax incentives for research and development. An article in Texas CEO magazine last fall celebrated their return. The R&D tax break is back in Texas. …Before passing this law, Texas was one of only a handful of states that did not offer some sort of research and […]

Minimum wage, the cost of living and the cost of doing business, even nonprofit businesses

As Mark Perry, AEI scholar and University of Michigan economist, points out, there’s no science to setting a minimum wage. But where does a minimum wage of $10.10 (or $9) per hour come from? Economic theory? Economic reasoning? Economic logic? Regression analysis? No. It comes from….. well it comes from….. OK, to be really honest, […]

A must-read column examines the $15 minimum wage from the perspective of a small restaurant owner who opposes it

Danny Westneat’s column in Sunday’s Seattle Times should be required reading for anyone concerned about the impact of a $15 minimum wage on Seattle businesses. I can’t do it justice in this post and encourage you to click through and read it now. He frames the column around restaurant owner John Platt, whom he describes […]