Michigan sucks.

As an Ohio-centric political blog, I couldn't help but notice the latest bout of stupid from the state up north.

The Michigan Democratic Party plans to test support for an array of populist ballot proposals, with an eye toward mounting one or more petition drives to put the questions before voters in 2010, state party Chairman Mark Brewer said today.

The potential measures include:

• Hiking the minimum wage to $10 an hour for all workers.

So. Incredibly. Stupid.

First off, let's better understand what happens when we have a minimum wage hike.

The vast majority of economists point out that unskilled workers bear the brunt of minimum wage hikes. According to a 2007 survey from the American Economic Association and the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, 73 percent of labor economists believe increases in the minimum wage will lead to employment losses, which will fall disproportionately on the least skilled workers.

Now, let's take into account that Michigan enacted a series of three minimum wage hikes annually beginning in 2006.

What happened? This.15.2% unemployment. Yikes.

Now, what kind of effect would the 38% increase in Michigan's minimum wage yield? Consider this...

Research from the University of Georgia (2006) found that for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, teen employment at small businesses decreased between 4.6 to 9 percent.

So, at a minimum, teen unemployment alone will increase by 17.5%.

Michigan is stupid.


h/t: Nukem