A Flawed Minimum Wage Study Shows How Bad Stats Get Turned Into Policy Gospel
A recent study claims that higher minimum wages do not lead to job losses, but its statistical methods may be misleading. The paper, published in 2024, has not received as much attention as other studies on the topic. Critics argue that such research can influence policy based on flawed data interpretation.
- ▪Thirty states and the District of Columbia have set minimum wages above the federal level of $7.25.
- ▪New York City and California have implemented minimum wages of $17 and $20 per hour, respectively.
- ▪Many studies supporting higher minimum wages use statistical techniques that can produce misleading results.
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| Original publisher | Reason Magazine |
| Canonical URL | https://reason.com/2026/05/27/a-flawed-minimum-wage-study-shows-how-bad-stats-get-turned-into-policy-gospel/ |
| Publication time | Wed, 27 May 2026 16:00:03 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-27T16:03:01.754Z |
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Economics A Flawed Minimum Wage Study Shows How Bad Stats Get Turned Into Policy Gospel A 2024 paper claimed higher minimum wages don't kill jobs. It was statistically significant—and almost certainly misleading. Aaron Brown | 5.27.2026 12:00 PM Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google Media Contact & Reprint Requests <img src="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/c800x450-w800-q80/uploads/2026/05/Minimum-Wage-5-2-A-800x450.jpg" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto" width="1200" height="675" title="A close-up of two hands, with a person handing another person a stack of bills—the background is tinted orange, an image of two papers with complicated graphs on them." alt="A close-up of two hands, with a person…
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