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New CBO report on raising the minimum wage. Most important takeaway is that it says there would be large gains for families below the poverty line and a reduction in the number of people below that line 1/ epi.org/press/cbo-repo…
The report also shows some significant job losses from a $15 minimum wage, which no doubt will get a lot of coverage. But I agree with EPI that CBO has given too much weight to dubious research. 2/
There is a diehard faction of economists who refuse to accept the overwhelming empirical evidence for very small employment effects of minimum wages. This puts CBO in an awkward position, and they may have erred on the side of political caution. But you don't have to go there 3/
The fact is that even if CBO is overstating the job effects, this is actually a very pro-hike report. Remember that the job number is for average employment in a given week; it doesn't mean that anything like that number would be unemployed for long periods 4/
There can be a reasonable argument about $12 vs $15. But the case for a substantial rise is overwhelming, especially when you consider the social benefits from raising incomes at the bottom 5/ voxeu.org/article/econom…
