IRWIN M. STELZER
This is the classic conservative argument against raising the minimum wage. Historically, if the minimum wage was raised well after there has been a period of wage inflation, there has been little or no negative effect on the lowest paid workers. However, when the minimum wage has been raised during a period of wage stability, there is an effect of making some workers simply not worth the rate that they must be paid. However, even then, after a year or two, the negative effect begins to dissipate.
Irwin M. Stelzer is an American economist who is the U.S. economic and business columnist for The Sunday Times in the United Kingdom and was for The Courier-Mail in Australia. In the United States, he was a contributing editor at The Weekly Standard, and is a contributing editor for the American Interest. He is Director of Economic Policy Studies at the Hudson Institute. Stelzer is a consultant on market strategy, pricing and antitrust issues, and regulatory matters for U.S. and United Kingdom industries. He is also an occasional contributor to The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, Standpoint and the New Statesman. He resides in the United States. Some British politicians and newspapers have vilified Stelzer as Rupert Murdoch's right-hand man, an assertion that Stelzer denies.
