Michigan's hourly minimum wage to increase to $9.25

May 29, 2014

In the May 28 Michigan Daily article, "Michigan law raises minimum wage to $9.25," Margo Levy, an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, interviews Professors Sandra Danziger and Alan Deardorff on the pros and cons of the state's new minimum wage law.

"The Michigan minimum wage increase will help many people and is an important step," Sandra Danziger told Levy. Danziger suggests, however, that the increase is "far less than a living wage," and "continues to treat tipped workers unequally."

Alan Deardorff, who believes that excessive minimum wage increases will "cause more harm through unemployment than benefit through increased wages of those who remain employed," was nevertheless in favor of the increase, saying that the U.S. minimum wage hadn't risen for many years and needed to be increased.