Is the Minimum Wage Just a Mirage?

This minimum wage business is tricky. On its face, raising the minimum seems an easy way to fight poverty. Just pay low-wage workers more. After all, some scholarly research finds that, within reasonable limits, there's no job penalty. A higher minimum doesn't reduce employment much, if at all. By and large, that's the position of the Obama administration, congressional Democrats and liberal groups. Unfortunately, it may not be that simple.