Bob Pollin and Stephanie Luce have a book on the subject: The Living Wage: Building a Fair Economy.
see also: A Measure of Fairness: The Economics of Living Wages and Minimum Wages in the United States by Robert Pollin (Author), Mark Brenner (Author), Jeannette Wicks-lim (Author), Stephanie Luce (Author); and Fighting for a Living Wage (Ilr Press Book) by Stephanie Luce. On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 3:34 PM, Paul Bartlett <[email protected]> wrote: > This study needs a thorough public critique. It would be faster and most > credible if we assemble a group of economists to do so. I am overloaded with > other projects, but could help and do my part. > > Living Wage Would Kill Jobs, Cost Billions, Bloomberg Report Claims > > By Chris > Bragghttp://www.cityhallnews.com/newyork/article-1879-living-wage-would-kill-jobs-cost-billions-bloomberg-report-claims.html > > A living wage mandate for New York employers would stifle development, cost > tens of thousands of jobs, and sacrifice billions of dollars worth of > private investment in the decades to come, a controversial new study claims. > > The long-awaited report from the city’s Economic Development Corporation > shows the City Council is pushing for the country’s most far-reaching living > wage protection, and says low-skilled workers would be disproportionally hit > by job losses. > > “The most comprehensive study to date on the effect of living wage policy > shows that significant job losses accompany modest wage gains among > low-skilled workers,” said EDC spokesman David Lombino in a statement. > “For New York City, the study projects that the job loss would be even more > significant than other cities, and that many development projects, > particularly in areas outside Manhattan, would not move forward.” > > The study was performed by the Boston-based firm Charles River Associates. > > The living wage bill, sponsored by Council Member Oliver Koppell, would > require all employers in developments that receive more than $100,000 in > city subsidies to pay workers $10-per-hour if the employer pays health care > benefits, or $11.50 an hour if they do not. > > Those conditions would apply to almost every commercial building in the > outer boroughs, said one person involved in the study, forcing almost every > business in them to pay a higher wage – making it much more sweeping than > laws in other cities. > > For months, proponents of the living wage bill, which include the unions > RWDSU and 32 BJ, have anticipated that the $1 million EDC-funded study would > show that the bill would kill jobs and cost private investment. > > One of the authors of the EDC study, Dr. David Neumark of > the University of California at Irvine, has been accused by proponents of > the bill as having a long history releasing reports slanted against the > adoption of wage mandates. > > "The core question here is why New York can’t do what Los Angeles and San > Francisco have been doing for years: ask major businesses that receive > taxpayer-funded benefits to pay a living wage in return," said Paul Sonn, > legal co-director at the Washington, D.C.-based National Employment Law > Project, who authored the city's living wage bill. > > Mayor Michael Bloomberg is already on record as being against the bill, and > spokesman Andrew Brent said the new report confirms why the mayor opposes > it. > > “The biggest job losses would occur in the areas with the highest > unemployment at a time when too many New Yorkers are without jobs as it is,” > Brent said. “Aggregate wages among low-skilled workers would not change > because any gains among some workers would be more than offset by families > losing employment opportunities entirely.” > > The living-wage bill is gearing up to be the next major clash between > progressives and the Bloomberg administration, following the death of the > paid-sick-leave bill, which Council Speaker Christine Quinn shelved > following a study funded by the Partnership for New York City that showed > the legislation would cost the city $789 million annually. > > Quinn has not yet indicated whether she will allow the living wage bill to > the Council floor or whether she will support the legislation. The details > of the EDC study have emerged in advance of a Thursday hearing on the bill. > The authors are not expected to testify. > > Policy experts who favor the living wage bill are already working on a > rebuttal pointing out purported methodological flaws and miscalculations in > the EDC study. > > Bettina Damiani, project director for Good Jobs New York, said it was > disappointing the city spent $1 million in taxpayers money to reaffirm the > real estate lobby's position on living wage. > > "If working New Yorkers can’t count on earning a living wage," she said, > "what policy recommendations does the Bloomberg Administration plan to put > forward to lift workers out of poverty?" > > A copy of the full 400-page study will likely be released in full this > summer. > > Living Wage Exec Summary_2011 05 09 > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
