Economists Still Can’t Decide Whether the Minimum Wage Is a Good Thing

– Quartz

The minimum wage has become a battleground for economists; the discussion generates so much angst because it goes right to the heart of how one views free markets. If the minimum wage is good policy, it upends all orthodox economic theory.
Labor Wants to Make Nafta Its Friend. Here’s the Problem.

– The New York Times 

Fooled once by a labor “side agreement” that Mr. Clinton added to Nafta to gain union approval, but that proved unable to constrain employers’ misdeeds in any significant way, labor is aiming this time for the heart of what it considers unfair competition. It is demanding a guarantee that wages — especially Mexican wages — rise to ensure a “level playing field.”

 

Democrats Are Starting a Fierce Internal Debate. Finally.

– The Washington Post 

With President Trump flailing and even Republicans panning the GOP-controlled Congress, Democrats have begun a long-overdue debate about the party’s platform and strategy. Citizen movements and progressive political leaders such as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are driving this debate. United in opposition to Trump’s reactionary agenda, they are calling on Democrats to embrace a bolder agenda for change. While many Beltway pundits warn against Democratic division, the party’s congressional leaders — Nancy Pelosi and Charles E. Schumer — understand that this has been a long time coming.
Hackers Are the Real Obstacle for Self-Driving Vehicles

– MIT Technology Review 

Before autonomous trucks and taxis hit the road, manufacturers will need to solve problems far more complex than collision avoidance and navigation. These vehicles will have to anticipate and defend against a full spectrum of malicious attackers wielding both traditional cyberattacks and a new generation of attacks based on so-called adversarial machine learning.