-A question. Minimum wage is one of the areas where an incremental -approach has meant a steady _lowering_ of the minimum wage over time.
No-- the incremental approach meant that the minimum wage went up in real terms to $8.50 an hour (in 2004 dollar) by 1968, and covered far more workers in the economy than the initial law did back in the 1930s.
It began dropping as inflation took off and conservative politicians gained the power to block most increases. However, in progressive, Democratically controlled states, the wage level is beginning to return to its historic levels-- in fact, in the cities of San Francisco and Santa Fe, they have with a minimum wage at a level higher than at any time in history in real terms and indexed to inflation. A large number of states have returned minimum wage rates to levels just short of that historic high point and are pushing them forward in more fights this year across the country.
Nathan Newman