Ross Douthat: Minimum Wage and EITC

I’d be willing to accept a slightly larger government in exchange for a lighter regulatory footprint and very different spending priorities; I’d accept the kind of carbon tax that I just expressed skepticism about if it were part of a tax reform that included the kind of work and family-friendly tax cuts I support; I’m open to modest gun control measures where their effectiveness can be demonstrated (here’s some interesting recent evidence on the pro-gun control side); I’d be willing to endure a socialist dictatorship if I were allowed to co-write the next season of “True Detective” … you get the idea.

.. Q: Why do conservatives object to directly increasing the minimum wage by making employers pay for it, while they are O.K. with indirectly increasing the minimum wage by think it pays enough, I certainly don’t want to subsidize Walmart’s profits with my tax dollars.

—Bob Hanle, Madison, WI

A: Not all conservatives are pro-EITC, but on behalf of those of us who favor its existence and potential expansion, I’d offer this answer: Because we prefer a transparent welfare state that supplements market income after the fact to a hidden welfare state that interferes with market forces more directly.

.. So rather than imposing a single standard on an incredibly diverse landscape, it’s better to do whatever redistribution you favor more directly, even when it sometimes seems to let bad actors off the hook.