Why is it so hard to raise the minimum wage? Even the leading expert on the topic isn’t quite sure. It’s one of the few issues that’s broadly popular with Americans, and even some corporate hard-liners are softening. Democrats have been trying to tie a new federal minimum wage to the COVID relief bill, and the Congressional Budget Office has come out with a new analysis of its impact. Today, we’ll talk with that expert, University of Massachusetts at Amherst economist Arindrajit Dube, about that analysis and the broader view of the minimum wage and how it affects the overall economy.

Here are links to everything we talked about on the show today:

You can read more about Dube here: “The Burger Flipper Who Became a World Expert on the Minimum Wage” from Bloomberg

“Even a divided America agrees on raising the minimum wage” from Brookings

The CBO’s latest analysis of a minimum wage hike, and one from 2019 (be warned: both are PDFs)

“No Quick Fix for Auto Chip Shortage” from The Wall Street Journal

“Biden: Yellen needs a ‘Hamilton’ musical. Dessa: Here you go.” from “Marketplace.” You can also hear “Who’s Yellen Now?” on YouTube and all the streaming services.