In an 1822 tract titled â??Tyranny Unmasked,â? Virginian John Taylor (1753-1824) observed that â??Tyranny is wonderfully ingenious in the art of inventing specious phrases to spread over its nefarious designs.â? Indeed. Here are two especially misleading phrases that today's opponents of free markets regularly use to mask the ugly reality of their policies.
â?¢ â??Minimum wage.â? By legislating a so-called â??minimum wage,â? the appearance is given that everyone who wants to work can do so at an hourly wage at least as high as the minimum declared by government. But no government declaration raises workers' productivity. Therefore, declaring a minimum wage condemns to unemployment all workers who cannot produce hourly output at least equal in value to the minimum wage.
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