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The left wing in American politics tends to present a minimum wage as benefiting the lower class by helping to lift poor people out of poverty. Conservatives and libertarians generally counter this argument with statistics showing that every increase in the minimum wage has increased unemployment, especially among black inner city youth; see [[entry-level job]]s. It also obliges companies to outsource many jobs to China and the Third World.

The left wing in American politics tends to present a minimum wage as benefiting the lower class by helping to lift poor people out of poverty. Conservatives and libertarians generally counter this argument with statistics showing that every increase in the minimum wage has increased unemployment, especially among black inner city youth; see [[entry-level job]]s. It also obliges companies to outsource many jobs to China and the Third World.

Fiscal conservatives tend to oppose increases in the minimum wage because in a [[free market]], the price of labor, like any other commodity, should be set by negotiations between the buyer and seller without undue interference from the state.  

Fiscal conservatives tend to oppose increases in the minimum wage because in a [[free market]], the price of labor, like any other commodity, should be set by negotiations between the buyer and seller without undue interference from the state.  Conservatives oppose the distortion caused by a minimum wage in encouraging boys to drop out of school, or otherwise decline to go onto college, in order to make artificially inflated and short-lived income at an elevated minimum wage.

[[Socialism|Socialists]], and many economic liberals, disagree with this view of labor as a commodity because they believe it dehumanizes laborers by permitting companies to pay employees less than necessary to live a decent life, support  a family, etc; see [[living wage]]. Even without legislation, the minimum wage as of 2007 is far below the lowest wage paid by most large companies.<ref>Alan Renolds, [[Cato Institute]]. ''[http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5409 Below the Minimum Wage]''</ref>

[[Socialism|Socialists]], and many economic liberals, disagree with this view of labor as a commodity because they believe it dehumanizes laborers by permitting companies to pay employees less than necessary to live a decent life, support  a family, etc; see [[living wage]]. Even without legislation, the minimum wage as of 2007 is far below the lowest wage paid by most large companies.<ref>Alan Renolds, [[Cato Institute]]. ''[http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5409 Below the Minimum Wage]''</ref>