Here's his math:
1938 Statutory Minimum Wage: $0.25
1938 CPI Value/2012 CPII Value: 0.061 = (14.092/229.594)
Divide (0.25/0.061): $4.07
He argues that Biden's call (and other "left wing activists") call for a higher minimum wage is totally wrong because they use 1968 (the peak of the real minimum wage as the "historical reference point) but that's "wrong" because you could pick any other "arbitrary year" and find that the in 1988 "the adjusted minimum wage would be $6.50 an hour."
OK, what am I missing here? He calls Biden's argument to raise the minimum wage "intellectually bankrupt." Now let's see: since neoclassical micro theory assumes a perfect exchange economy where everything is transacted in "real" terms, the fact that real wages are higher in 2012 than in 1938 means...
Ah! Now I get it: $7.25/$4.07 means that capitalists have a 78% rate of exploitation by workers!
And how about this: minimum wage workers are in sectors with little or no productivity growth, so that $7.25 is really a gross overpayment for little contribution to output. Now check out McD's latest financial data: since 2007, return on invested capital has averaged 18.98% per year - whoa! Has anybody EVER got a raise at that rate? Oh yeah, dividends up by a total of 191% and the stock price is up only 170% since 2007.
Jason