Welfare Reform on the Web (December 2009): Minimum Wage - overseas

Smith and living wages: arguments in support of a mandated living wage

B.J. Clary

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 68, 2009, p. 1064-1083

Adam Smith was a proponent of living wages for the working poor for reasons of growth and social justice. There is ample evidence in his works to support the argument that he would have approved of public policies and legislation that might ensure the achievement of a living wage.