Recent pay increases for the poor have out-paced inflation, which is more support for the idea that the market will take care of the poor, if we just let it operate freely.  
The Democrat party has given up on caring for the poor via minimum wage, and the market has taken over that role.  An article in the Wall Street Journal this week declares, “Biggest Pay Raises Went to Black Workers, Young People and Low-Wage Earners.”  The subtitle reads, “Median weekly earnings rose 7.4% last year, outpacing inflation: Some groups notched double-digit gains.”
For decades, the Democrats claimed to be the patron of the poor by calling for increases in the minimum wage.  Then, strangely, they went silent on the issue.  Either they learned some Christian Economics, or had more fun causing inflation that harmed the poor.  I don’t know.
But the economic fact is that the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has been underwater for many years now.  When a minimum wage is below the equilibrium wage, we call that “non-binding.”  So for many semesters now, in my econ class at Dallas Baptist University, I’ve been pointing out that the Buc-ee’s starting wage of $12 is well above the federal minimum wage.
 
The Trump Economy Revisited
Quoting from the WSJ article again, “Black workers, young workers and people on the bottom of the income scale were among those who saw the largest pay increases last year, when employers were readily handing out raises in a tight labor market and high inflation environment.”  Tight labor markets are good for the poor.  The last time we saw the poor get rich at a faster rate than the rich got rich was during the incredible economic growth produced by the Trump administration’s tax-cutting.  That swelled the pockets of the poor faster than any government program in history.  The big difference is this: During the Trump administration, inflation was below 2%, and now it’s in the 7% range.
But The Christian Economist rejoices when the poor make progress, especially when they make more progress than the rich.  More data: The median raise for Black Americans employed full time was 11.3%, compared with the prior year. Weekly pay for workers between 16- and 24-years old rose more than 10%. The bottom 10th of wage earners—those that make about $570 a week—saw their pay increase by nearly 10%.
 
Sorry Mr. Piketty
He’s the guy who is always reminding the nimble-minded about the gap between the rich and the poor.  Well, according to the WSJ, it just narrowed.  Oh, Mr. Piketty was busy in 2021, publishing the book A Brief History of Equality, hmmm maybe that history got extended since folks got MORE equal, as reported this week.  And, he made another contribution to free market capitalism by offering the book for sale titled Time for Socialism.  Get the hypocrisy? He’s selling a book for profit, in a free market economy titled Time for Socialism.  If it really WAS time for Socialism, wouldn’t he be practicing the dicta – From each according to his ability,