This book delivers a fresh and fascinating perspective on the issue of the minimum wage. While most discussions of the minimum wage place it at the center of a debate between those who oppose such a policy and argue it leads to greater unemployment, and those who favor it and argue it improves the economic well-being of low-income workers, Levin-Waldman makes the case for the minimum wage as a way to improve the well-being of middle-income workers, strengthen the US economy, reduce income inequality, and enhance democracy. Making a timely and original contribution to the defining issues of our timethe state of the middle class, the problem of inequality, and the crisis of democratic governanceRestoring the Middle Class through Wage Policy will be of interest to students and researchers considering the impact of such approaches across the fields of public policy, economics, and political science.

Offers timely analysis of hugely topical issues surrounding public policy and inequality Takes a novel approach, shifting thinking on the minimum wage towards its impact on the middle classes Contains original work by one of the leading and most-long-standing academics in the field

Autorentext
Oren M. Levin-Waldman is Professor of Public Policy at Metropolitan College of New York, USA. He is also Research Scholar at the Binzagr Institute for Sustainable Prosperity and a part-time faculty member in the Milano School for International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at The New School, USA.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Unsettled Findings.- 3. Middle Class Welfare Effects.- 4. The Minimum Wage and Job Creation.- 5. Minimum Wage and Income Distribution.- 6. Other Theoretical Frameworks.- 7. Minimum Wage and Greater Democracy.<p