Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. The Political Economy of the Minimum Wage -- The Goals of Minimum Wage Policy -- Arguments For and Against a Minimum Wage -- Moral Arguments For a Minimum Wage -- Economic Arguments For a Minimum Wage -- Moral Arguments Against a Minimum Wage -- Economic Arguments Against a Minimum Wage -- The Economics of the Minimum Wage -- The Politics of the Minimum Wage -- Middle Class Leadership -- Public Opinion -- Interest Groups -- Political Parties -- Policy Making Arenas -- The Structure of a Minimum Wage -- Universal versus Sector Specific Minimum Wages -- The Level of the Wage -- Coverage -- Subminimums or a Tiered System -- Two Complexities -- Enforcement -- Conclusion -- Chapter 2. Origins -- The Road to the Trade Boards Act 1909 -- New Liberalism -- The Campaign against Sweating -- Political Factors -- Adoption of the Trade Boards Act -- American State Legislation -- Progressivism -- From Idea to Concrete Proposal -- State Action -- The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 -- New Deal Philosophy -- Early Initiatives -- Passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3. Decay, Death, and Rebirth -- Launching the Trade Boards, 1909−1921 -- The Diminishing Role of the Trade Boards, 1922−1939 -- At the Fringes, 1940−1979 -- The Abolition of the Wages Councils -- Reawakening -- Chapter 4. The National Minimum Wage in Operation -- The Policy Making Process -- Policy Development, 1999−2007 -- The National Minimum Wage in Operation -- The Impact of the National Minimum Wage -- Employment Effects -- Inflation -- Profitability -- Fighting Poverty -- Inequality -- Conclusion -- Chapter 5. The Federal Minimum Wage -- Political Dynamics -- Evolution of the Law -- The Impact of the Federal Minimum Wage -- A Decade of Deterioration - Economic and Political.

The Structure of the Federal Minimum Wage -- A Profile of the Contemporary Minimum Wage Workforce -- Conclusion -- Chapter 6. State and Local Minimum Wage Policies -- State Minimum Wage Laws -- The Impact of State Minimum Wages -- Employment -- Business Growth -- Inflation -- Poverty -- The Politics of State Minimum Wage Increases -- Illinois -- Referenda -- Indexing -- Local Minimum Wage Policies -- Conclusion -- Chapter 7. The Living Wage Campaign -- The Living Wage Movement in the United States -- The Living Wage Movement in Great Britain -- Conclusion -- Chapter 8. Conclusion -- Contemporary Minimum Wage Policy in Great Britain -- Contemporary Minimum Wage Policy in the United States -- Welfare State Theory -- Bibliography -- Index.