WSJ Ad Uses Bill Gates to Criticize $10.10 Minimum Wage

EPI_WSJ_TechSavvy_OLIn his State of the Union address, President Obama will call for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $10.10—a nearly 40 percent jump over the current amount.

The White House claims its plan won’t reduce jobs, but the vast majority of economic research on the subject – including 85% of the best studies from the last two decades – suggests otherwise. New EPI research finds that a $10.10 minimum wage could eliminate as many as one million jobs.

But it’s not just economists who understand this. In tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal, EPI is running a full-page ad featuring Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. In a recent interview on MSNBC, Gates warned that  higher minimum wage could force employers to opt for automated self-service alternatives instead of hiring entry-level employees.

Bill Gates gets it. Why doesn’t the President?