"Minimum Wage should be Zero" -Dr. Victor Claar Explains | #131
S01:E131

"Minimum Wage should be Zero" -Dr. Victor Claar Explains | #131

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Episode description

The Gwartney team this week talks about the minimum wage argument. This discussion is led by our special guest Dr. Victor Claar. Dr. Victor V. Claar is associate professor of economics at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, where he holds the BB&T Distinguished Professorship in Free Enterprise. He studied business and math as an undergraduate at Houghton College in upstate New York, and earned his masters and doctoral degrees in economics at West Virginia University.

Professor Claar is an affiliate scholar of the Acton Institute, as well as a member of the Foundation for Economic Education's Faculty Network. He is a Fulbright Scholar, having spent a year teaching economics to graduate students in the former-Soviet republic of Armenia.

Professor Claar has a long, impressive record of publications, including his influential book, Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy and Life Choices, now in its tenth printing and recently translated into Chinese. His forthcoming book with coauthor Greg Forster, The Keynesian Revolution and the Rise of Economic Materialism: We're All Dead, is under contract to be published in early 2019 by Palgrave Macmillan.

The link to his minimum wage article is here: https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2021/03/74720/


The “Faith in Economics” podcast, produced by the Gwartney Institute at Ottawa University, explores the intersection of faith and economics as a means to aid human flourishing. In the episode, host Cole McRae converses with Dr. Russ McCullough, Dr. Justin Clark, and Dr. Peter Jacobson regarding recent developments in U.S. government efficiency efforts, particularly focusing on controversial figures like Elon Musk and initiatives like “Doge.” The panel discusses the idea of a “Doge dividend,” a proposed initiative where savings from government spending cuts would be returned to citizens in the form of checks, reminiscent of COVID stimulus checks, aiming to offer approximately $5,000 per American based on 20% of the budget cuts achieved.

The conversation emphasizes the need to restructure government expenditure and addresses the complexities of executing cuts responsibly, likening it to a surgical operation that inevitably removes some healthy aspects along with the waste. Dr. Jacobson and Dr. Clark express support for the dividend proposal, highlighting its potential to politically empower citizens and counter the narrative that tax cuts benefit only the wealthy. The economists advocate for a more significant percentage than 20% for dividends to encourage public awareness and engagement with government spending.

Diverse views regarding balancing the national budget and addressing the national debt also emerge. While Dr. Clark argues the importance of immediate compensation for spending cuts to bolster political will, Dr. Jacobson counters that the method whether through dividends or future tax cuts won’t ultimately impact debt responsibility. This lively discourse illustrates the nuanced relationship between government efficiency, fiscal policy, and citizen engagement, advocating for a systematic change that could reshape economic conditions while benefiting ordinary Americans through incentivized spending cuts. The episode concludes with reflections on the broader implications of the proposed Doge dividend amidst ongoing discussions about government deficits and accountability in spending.