6. Government Licensing of Industry and Minimum Wage

Tags: Austrian Economics Overview, Interventionism, Big Government

02/11/2010 Murray N. Rothbard

The peanut butter crunch was in 1980. Crop acreage and production was cut down by 45% by government price support, import quotas, and cartelizing of the industry. The price of peanuts more than tripled. Farm price supports also keep cheese prices above market levels. The minimum wage law imposes a wage above the laborer’s discounted marginal value product. The supply of labor exceeds the demand, and the unsold surplus of labor services means involuntary mass unemployment. Low paid workers are screwed by minimum wage laws.

Part 6 of 14. Presented in 1986 at New York Polytechnic University.

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