Wall Street Journal (10/12/15) Bob Funk

Free enterprise is “under assault” according to this opinion piece by Bob Funk, chief executive officer of Express Employment Professionals, and too many politicians do not take into account how regulations will affect companies and employees. Concerns about regulatory burdens ranging from U.S. National Labor Board decisions to increases in the minimum wage are influencing employers’ hiring and wage decisions.

Despite seemingly rosy economic numbers—an unemployment rate of 5.1% and second-quarter gross domestic product growth of an annualized 3.9%—the numbers don’t tell the whole story. “Economics—and logic—tells us that if unemployment was truly that low and GDP that high, wages would be rising,” writes Funk. “Instead, wages grew at 0.2% during the second quarter, the slowest rate in 33 years.”