There really isn’t much in the CBO’s projection on the effects of increasing the minimum wage that you wouldn’t expect. It would help some people. It would hurt others. It would reduce employment.
Reactions to the report, too, are much what you’d expect, i.e. where you stand depends on where you sit. I do notice that few are mentioning the substantial difference the CBO finds between increasing the minimum wage to $9.00 (24%) as opposed to $10.10 (40%)—the larger increase would throw five times as many people out of work.
There are other things that aren’t mentioned. For example, the CBO doesn’t essay a projection into the effect that any increase would have on future job growth. Or on what sectors and populations the deleterious effects of an increase would fall heaviest or the beneficial effects help most. And they don’t appear to consider that increasing the minimum wage would incentivize a black market in labor.
Whatever the boosters or critics say there ain’t much new here.
Meanwhile, in the civilized world, the PPACA continues to work miracles.
I’m sure the Administrations projections of how well a hike to the minimum wage will work out at least as well as their projections about how the unemployment rate would go if the ARRA were passed, or how the PPACA would create health for all at greatly reduced costs.