Raise the wage: Paul Krugman shatters the myth that we can’t afford to boost workers’ pay

Three things are inevitable in this life: death, taxes, and conservative claims that we simply can’t afford to give low-wage workers a pay boost. Nobel Prize-winning economist takes on the latter inevitability in his New York Times column today, seizing on recent developments to illustrate why arguments against wage increases don’t withstand serious scrutiny.

Take McDonald’s announcement this week that it would pay its workers $1 above the minimum wage per hour at the 1,500 outlets owned and operated by McDonald’s itself. (The move, which still falls well short of...