Peter's Blog

The idea of ‘wage slavery’ unfairly compares today’s suffering job market to historical chattel slavery, using outdated 19th-century arguments to criticize modern work. This oversimplification overlooks the significant improvements in workers’ freedom and their right to work.  Some will choose to work at a lower wage than accept a worse alternative.

The solution to a problem shouldn’t make the problem worse. But apparently, California’s policy makers missed that memo. On April 1st, the state instituted a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers, the highest in the US. With California’s absurdly high cost of living, the policy appeared to make life more manageable for low-income residents. Unfortunately, as the adage goes, “If it sounds too […]

We’ve reached the end of another year. A new year is always a good time for reflection. And maybe even some resolutions. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about the trajectory of gold as we enter the new year, explains an economic truth, offers some thoughts on New […]

The real minimum wage is always zero. Restaurant workers in California are about to find that out the hard way.

We’re kicking off Labor Day weekend. That means you’re going to hear a lot of rhetoric about how the government needs to do more for workers. But as Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey explains, we don’t really need better government policies for workers. We need better money for everybody. He also talks about tanking […]

There is a relentless push to raise the minimum wage, both at the state and national levels. Minimum wage advocates somehow think that their wishful thinking can override basic economics. But no matter how much they tell you otherwise, supply and demand are a thing. Raising the cost of labor will mean less labor employed, all […]

We got another round of hotter than expected CPI data this week. The mainstream financial media is spinning this as good news. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey digs into the CPI data without the rose-colored glasses. He also talks about an announcement by a major restaurant chain that may […]

The federal minimum wage hike didn’t make its way into the coronavirus stimulus bill passed by the Senate last week, but it is an idea that won’t die. With Biden in the White House and Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, the issue will almost certainly come up again sooner rather than later. Proponents of […]

Talk of hiking the minimum wage at the national level has ramped up in recent weeks. With the Democrats controlling the House and the Senate, and Joe Biden in the White House, it seems increasingly likely that we’ll soon see a federal $15 per hour minimum. In other words, it may soon be illegal to […]

With Joe Biden in the White House and Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, it seems pretty certain we’re going to get a federal $15 an hour minimum wage. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey discusses the economic ramifications of minimum wage laws. Hint — they are not good. […]