The minimum wage has put a floor under workers’ wages since taking effect 75 years ago on Oct. 24, 1938. But at $7.25 an hour, today’s federal minimum wage is the same as it was in 1950, after adjusting for inflation.Too little, too late minimum wage raises are the next best things to eliminating it for minimum wage opponents.“If we would have had our druthers,” said Murray Weidenbaum, chairman of President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, “We would have eliminated it.” But, as the

You might think the International Committee of the Red Cross would have plenty to do just providing humanitarian aid to people in war zones. And so it does. So why is the organization poking its nose into the debate over violent video games?As it turns out, that’s also a pretty good use of its time.Among the millions of young people who play such games today ― virtually capturing, torturing and killing enemy combatants ― are some of the soldiers, military officers, government leaders and opinion

“We’re living in interesting times,” thus goes the Chinese saying. The same can be said about India-China relationship. They have decades-old border dispute, which keeps surfacing as an irritant in a relationship that has seen Indian and Chinese armies taking part in joint exercises and thriving trade ties.Given this backdrop, the China visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assumes great significance as the boundary issue would top the agenda of his talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

After the U.S. lifted its embargo following former president Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972, China began learning from Western examples. The establishment of a series of special economic zones was part of the lesson China learned, which has now prompted it to set up the Shanghai free trade zone. The FTZ demonstrates China’s determination to build Shanghai into a global economic hub. The FTZ is aimed at helping develop industries by promoting free and convenient trade, and acting as a t

The results of the United Malays National Organization elections will reinforce Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s position for now. Having his allies in key roles within Malaysia’s largest political party is the best outcome for a nation seeking calm stewardship in the aftermath of the May general election, in which the Barisan Nasional won a majority but trailed in the popular vote. Najib retained the UMNO presidency without contest. But more indicative of the direction UMNO, the titular l

President Obama and the Democrats won; Republicans and the “tea party” lost. And both sides are gearing up for next time.Now that our recent brush with financial crisis is behind us, it’s time to start planning for the next one.That’s the problem Congress set up in the stopgap deal that ended the 16-day government shutdown and averted a collision with the debt ceiling. After all the sound and fury, the two parties agreed only on continuing federal spending at its current level until Jan. 15 and

The Food and Drug Administration has outlawed the only over-the-counter asthma medicine in the U.S. It has also banned a number of other asthma medicines that patients like and that doctors have prescribed for them.In imposing these prohibitions, the FDA hasn’t denied that the banned asthma medicines are safe and effective for their intended use. (Disclosure: While serving as administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs during President Barack Obama’s first term,

After two years working at a St. Louis Wendy’s, Alisha Snider still cannot afford basics like rent, food, clothes and daycare for her three daughters. The 26-year-old earns only $7.50 an hour and works just 20 hours a week. So how does Alisha make ends meet? She puts her kids in a taxpayer-funded daycare program and uses $398 a month in food stamps to feed them.New research we published Tuesday shows Alisha is far from alone. It might come as a surprise that most Americans on public assistance p

Anybody who has ever encountered the college admissions process knows that there’s no such thing as an even playing field. Most schools will admit that upfront. “Like all colleges,” Harvard College notes on its own admissions website, “we seek to admit the most interesting, able, and diverse class possible.”In other words, schools often try to balance out an incoming class with students who not only have good grades or high test scores but have had unusual life experiences as well as those they