Would 'Goodness Economics' Work?

You who believe in education, not legislation, tell me if your plan will work.

On the minimum wage.

Our problem is that the minimum wage is a contributing factor to jobs being sent overseas. I say it is healthy to keep these jobs on American soil.

So, what do we do?

What if our concern for the working class rose to the level of buying the more-expensive products over the less-expensive ones? What if we were willing to buy one brand simply because the manufacturer paid its workers well? What if we valued this enough that we set aside our need for low prices, and instead bought the product that paid its employees fair wages?

You say it will never be done. I say, if we decide to do this, it can be done. There are enough good people to make it work. If we educate the public, telling them which products are made by manufacturers offering respectable wages, if we educated the public as to why this is important, enough people will sacrifice -- will pay the higher price -- in order to bring back a portion of these industries to the United States.

Keep the minimum wage or throw it away, but make a spirited public appeal to the goodness of the consumer to support the products made at higher wages. Identify such products, spread the word, and a portion of the populace will support them. Do not denegrade those who continue to buy the lesser-costing items, as they are supporting workers, too. But, if by some long-shot chance we persuade such a large portion of consumers to pay the higher prices, the makers of the lower-priced items will be persuaded to raise their prices to cover paying their own workers better.

This would be a new kind of economy, still a market-driven economy, but one driven by the public's desire to do good, as opposed to just by prices. I'll call it Goodness Economics.

(Post updated Oct. 6)