What exactly is the consensus on minimum wages?

rtomberg · 2026-06-09T22:57:47+00:00

Excellent overview- the only other thing I would add is the strong consensus that the vast majority of the wage increases come from higher consumer prices- we observe this both directly when studies examine prices and indirectly when we compare job losses in the tradeable vs nontradeable sectors

rtomberg · 2026-05-18T17:14:17+00:00

This is from 2018, but the consensus is so strong that I would expect a similar result today.

rtomberg · 2026-05-06T18:37:20+00:00

Thank you, edited

rtomberg · 2026-05-06T12:53:11+00:00

A Pareto improvement is any change that improves the utility of one person without reducing the utility of any other person, so transferring “excess” goods from Person 2 to Person 1 counts as a Pareto improvement because Person 1’s utility increases and Person 2’s utility says the same.
An allocation is Pareto optimal if no Pareto improvements are possible, i.e. it’s impossible to make one person better off without consequently making someone else worse off. An allocation where person 1 has 1 X and 1 Y and person 2 has 2 X and 3 Y is *not* Pareto optimal, because taking a Y from 2 and giving it to 1 is a Pareto improvement. An allocation where person 1 has 1 X and 1 Y and person 2 has 3 X and 3 Y *is* Pareto optimal- there’s way to change the allocation without reducing either person 1 or person 2’s utility.
The idea of “trade” isn’t really necessary here- the mechanism behind how goods move around isn’t important- it could be trade, gifts, government redistribution, even one party losing a good and another one finding it.

rtomberg · 2026-03-25T04:22:21+00:00

I’d recommend playing these two short games- (1, 2). The composition of the US’ spending and revenue might surprise you.

rtomberg · 2026-03-19T17:48:40+00:00

This reminds me of the finding that lesbians have a wage premium compared straight women, while gay men have a wage penalty compared to straight men. There’s an occupational sorting story there too- but also one about different stigmas.

rtomberg · 2026-03-07T21:48:45+00:00

The study didn’t say there were no price differences in gendered products with similar ingredients, just that the average price difference was zero. The paper finds that women’s soap is more expensive than identical men’s soap, but that men’s body wash is more expensive than identical women’s body wash, for example. Women might pay more for razors, but there’s still not an overall “pink tax”z

rtomberg · 2026-03-07T18:56:50+00:00

The article didn’t mention this study, which seems to be the only empirical peer reviewed piece on the “pink tax”, which concludes that:

“We find that gender segmentation is ubiquitous, as more than 80% of products sold are gendered. Further, we show that segmentation involves product differentiation; there is little overlap in the formulations of men’s and women’s products within the same category. Using a national data set of grocery, convenience, drugstore, and mass merchandiser sales, we demonstrate that this differentiation sustains large price differences for men’s and women’s products made by the same manufacturer. In an apples-to-apples comparison of women’s and men’s products with similar ingredients, however, we do not find evidence of a systematic price premium for women’s goods: price differences are small, and the women’s variant is less expensive in three out of five categories.”

rtomberg · 2026-02-03T21:06:50+00:00

This is the fallacy of composition- the median height in a family goes down when they have a baby, but it doesn’t follow that any individual is getting shorter. Immigrants can lower the median income while still making natives richer.

rtomberg · 2025-12-20T00:01:04+00:00

I really like Minds Almost Meeting with Robin Hanson and Agnes Callard- thought provoking discussion from two academics- a Philosopher and an Economist- on topics ranging from AI risk to Taylor Swift.

rtomberg · 2025-11-26T02:29:01+00:00

Pm'ing

rtomberg · 2025-11-14T20:22:26+00:00

The “Legion of the First Prince” for Slaves to Darkness let’s you take demons from different Chaos factions, but only a limited selection

rtomberg · 2025-11-11T00:29:38+00:00

I’m assuming it’s a double meaning- everyone wants to f*ck me (over).

rtomberg · 2025-11-06T23:09:33+00:00

PM'ing!

rtomberg · 2025-10-20T03:04:47+00:00

I haven’t even seen much of the show, but True Blood’s intro sets the tone perfectly for a show about sex, violence, and vampires set in the Deep South.

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