The Interface Between Economics and Halakhah: The Case of Minimum Wage Legislation

TL;DRAbstract

The relevancy of extends not only to our ritual behavior but to all matters of social and public policy as well. I believe that this area of public policy offers the most fruitful opportunity for the integration of halakhic and economic principles. I would like to illustrate this interface of Torah and Madda by an halakhic analysis of the minimum proposal which is now before Congress. Frozen at the level of $3.35 since 1981, Congress is now calling for the minimum to be increased to $4.55 over three years. Excluded from coverage, however, would be workers who worked fewer than 60 days in their lives. For these workers, a subminimum or so called training wage would be established. Promising to veto this bill, President Bush has advanced an alternative proposal. Salient features of the Bush proposal include an increase of the minimum to only $4.25 over three years and the application of the subminimum to all workers who are on the job for less than six months. Analysts predict that any c

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