Sowell on Minimum Wage Decision in Chicago

I recently blogged on this, here and here. Thomas Sowell had some good additional points in his column Minimum Wages in Chicago: A Glimmer of Hope. Here are some highlights that I hadn't read before (or mentioned in my other posts):

• Not only did Mayor Richard M. Daley denounce the minimum wage hike to $10 (for just big box retailers), but did so did both Chicago newspapers. Plus: "The crowning touch came when Andrew Young, former civil rights leader and former mayor of Atlanta, went to Chicago to criticize local black leaders who supported this bill."
  
• "A survey has shown that 85 percent of the economists in Canada and 90 percent of the economists in the United States say that minimum wage laws reduce employment." (I ask... what kind of theories are the other 10% working from?)
  
• And he ends nicely with: "Most studies show unemployment resulting from minimum wages. But a few studies that reach different conclusions are hailed as having “refuted” the “myth” that minimum wages cause unemployment. Some of these latter studies involve surveying employers before and after a minimum wage increase. But you can only survey employers who are still in business. By surveying people who played Russian roulette and are still around, you could “refute” the “myth” that Russian roulette is dangerous. Minimum wage laws play Russian roulette with people who need jobs and the work experience that will enable them to rise to higher pay levels. There is now a glimmer of hope that more people are beginning to understand this, despite political demagoguery."