Some politicians want to increase the government-mandated minimum wage and spend more tax dollars on education programs to reduce income inequality. Recent research from a Barton College economics professor suggests those politicians would do a better job addressing their goal by focusing on economic growth.
John Bethune, director of the BB&T Center for Free Enterprise Education at Barton, shared details of his research Monday during a presentation for the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society.
Examining policies across the 50 states, Bethune found negative correlations between inequality and both the minimum wage and education spending. In contrast, states with faster economic growth experienced less inequality. He summarizes the policy implications in the video clip below.
Click here to watch the full 32:46 presentation.