In this article, I would like to dwell on the topic of the minimum wage and address specifically the audience that believes in the minimum wage mandate. I know well that the vast majority of Independent Institute readers do not fall for that widespread fallacy. However, as someone who once earned less than the mandated minimum, my personal experience may convince affected readers to reconsider their perspective.

In the beautiful October of 1994, just three days after my arrival in the United States, my relatives introduced me to a man who offered me a job. The job was to distribute so-called “junk mail,” all kinds of supermarket flyers, to apartment buildings and private houses. The job did not require any skills or knowledge of the language. He offered me three dollars per hour, although the minimum rate at that time was established at four dollars and twenty-five cents. I was not aware of any such law, but I gladly accepted the offer.

Three dollars per hour translates to about $672 per month. I remember I could buy a good meal for about six dollars at a Chinese restaurant. In addition, I had the opportunity to familiarize myself with the Big Apple, as we worked in different parts of the city, some of which I had never visited since, and some of which I never want to visit again. With a studio rent of four hundred eighty dollars plus utilities, my monthly salary paid for our dwelling. My wife became a cleaning lady, and the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA), which we called “Na-Ya-Na,” was a nonprofit organization that supported new immigrants. We were fortunate to receive four months of monetary support and English classes in the evenings.

Overall, we could pay rent and utilities, study English and American life, and not economize on food at all. This was the beginning of two PhDs’ new life.

Those three dollars per hour suited both the........

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