Today's WSJ weighs in on the issue with a look (free WSJ link today!)at how indexing has worked in Oregon since 2002. There is, of course, an example confirming the business lobby's worst fears: a restaurant owner says he hires fewer employees because his profit margins are squeezed.
But here's the money quote:
Oregon's experience suggests the most strident doomsayers were wrong. Private, nonfarm payrolls are up 8% over the past four years, nearly twice the national increase. Wages are up, too. Job growth is strong in industries employing many minimum-wage workers, such as restaurants and hotels. Oregon's estimated 5.4% unemployment rate for 2006, though higher than the national average, is down from 7.6% in 2002, when the state was emerging from a recession.
