Reducing poverty by reducing government

Watching the political infomerical otherwise known as the Presidential debate tonight reminded me of an excellent essay that I read earlier today on Mises.org. Kerry was asked about the minimum wage, and Kerry replied by advocating a rise in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7. He used an emotional appeal to do so by referring to, I believe, 9 million women who would be better equipped to support themselves and their children if the minimum wage went up. Is that right? It seems to me that many of those women may end up unemployed, or paying higher prices for certain goods at the very least, if Kerry had his way.

Going back to that article I referred to, it was written by George Reisman and is titled Reducing Poverty by Reducing Government. Check it out... it's a worthwhile read and is handy for pointing out the flaws in statist interventionist policies, like the minimum wage and licensing legislation.

By the way, I currently make $.25 less than Kerry's vision for the minimum wage. Not all people who earn so little appreciate what Kerry is proposing.