economics

Between February and April 2010, the John Locke Foundation asked over 500 college and university faculty to evaluate selected test questions from North Carolina’s 2008-2009 end-of-course high school civics and economics and U.S. history tests. This study provides an overview of the responses from both the mailed and online surveys.

RALEIGH – The John Locke Foundation will honor the late Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman July 31 as part of the national Friedman Legacy for Freedom campaign. July 31 would…

RALEIGH – A model the Appalachian State University Energy Center used to project the economic impact of N.C. climate change policies has “serious flaws” that undermine its credibility. That’s the…

RALEIGH – State Treasurer Richard Moore wants to raise the state’s minimum wage to help those on the lowest rung of the economic ladder. Studies show those are the very…

State Treasurer Richard Moore wants to raise the minimum wage in North Carolina to $6.15, “one dollar more” than the federal minimum wage. Moore says the minimum wage hike would help those at the lowest rung of the economic ladder. That’s counter to even basic economics. Studies show that raising the minimum wage makes it even harder for the lowest skilled workers to find employment — but those are the very people it’s supposed to help. Ironically, minimum-wage hikes benefit middle- and upper-income families the most.

The NC House is considering a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour. While intended to help lower-income workers earn a “living wage,” the more likely result is to boost the earnings of some non-poor workers, including many teens and seasonal workers, while increasing the unemployment rate for many poor and minority workers. Employers will not hire people whose work efforts are worth less in the market than a government-imposed wage. A better policy to boost the earnings of entry-level workers would be to address their educational deficiencies.

RALEIGH — A bill in the North Carolina House would raise the state-imposed minimum wage to $8.50 an hour, but a new analysis from the John Locke Foundation suggests…