What do you think of this argument against raising the minimum wage?

[pbrower2a]

People are minimum-wage because, typically:

1. They are not long-term employees. That explains part-time high-school and college students who have little desire to keep the jobs that they then have after completing their education. They are not going to sacrifice their education for the chance to go from $8 an hour to $9 an hour unless the educational effort begins to fail.

2. They do little real work on the job. Such is so with retail clerks who wait for customers who come to the business to buy impulse items. Pay and effort are connected. Salespeople are either the worst-paid people around (retail) or among the best -- and among the best are those who must seek customers.

3. They are difficult if not impossible to train for work more skilled than what they then have. They are undereducated and living up to limited potential.

4. They have few choices of employment. They may be illegal aliens who dare not leave the job. They may be holdouts in a depressed are.

5. They have a pay structure that implies a nominal minimum wage (such as a draw against commissions) but rely upon commissions or tips. For such people the minimum wage is a joke as payment.