By James Dorn
Forbes, July 22, 2013
... In marking the fourth anniversary of the last increase in the federal minimum wage, on July 24, 2009, a number of business owners and executives associated with Business for a Fair Minimum Wage are showing their support for another increase. In a media advisory released on July 19, several members expressed the belief that “a fair minimum wage makes good business sense.”
Jon Cooper, who owns Spectronics Corporation, makes the following case for the minimum wage increase: “As owner of a manufacturing company with 150 employees, I know increasing the minimum wage is good for business. More than 70 percent of our nation’s economy is driven by consumer spending and increasing the minimum wage will allow low-wage workers to buy food, clothing and other essentials, putting money right back into local businesses.” This same argument was repeated by other business owners and executives.
As Holly Sklar, director of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, stated: “Remember that workers are also consumers, and the minimum wage sets the floor under worker paychecks. . . . We can’t build a strong economy with wages worth less than they were half a century ago.” ...
NOTE: In this piece, columnist James Dorn, editor of the Cato Institute Journal, opposes minimum wage, saying, "The minimum wage violates freedom of contract and hence private property rights."