Today’s 70-cent per hour increase in the federal minimum wage has sparked a boost in prices at grocery stores and gas stations as employers attempt to recoup the cost of the higher wages they must now pay their entry-level employees.

As a result, many minimum wage workers can no longer afford the groceries they sack, nor the fuel dispensed at the convenience stores where they work.

Democrats who pushed the minimum wage hike through Congress last year, said they plan to address the problem by requiring retailers to raise their prices so they can afford to pay their workers enough to buy the pricier products.

The economic woes of Zimbabwe—an understatement, I know—continue apace, and BBC News is reporting the odd nomenclatural difficulties facing local economists. For instance, can the average Zimbabwean count the zeros in a quadrillion? A septillion? With wads of worthless billion dollar notes in circulation and inflation showing no sign of abating, one woman told the BBC that she is using the Internet to make sense of all those zeros in her wallet: "I actually Googled what comes after trillion about a month ago, and sent that out to all my friends so they'd be prepared."

Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) said Wednesday he will ask the House ethics committee whether he may continue to seek earmarks for a community college in his district after his wife was named president of the school last week.

You need an ethics committee to decide on whether this is a conflict of interest or not? Costello got a 0% score on our 2007 RePORK Card.

If you want to know how out of touch Congress is on the issue of wasteful spending, listen to Florida Rep. John Mica defend his pork projects: "There's no way in hell I would support banning earmarks. That's our job, getting elected and making decisions." Mr. Mica is the most powerful Republican on the Transportation Committee.

The idea that bringing home federal dollars is integral to a politician's job and essential to getting re-elected is a favorite of Republicans and Democrats alike. Three months ago, Hillary Clinton told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, "I'm very proud of my earmarks. It's one of the reasons I won 67% of the vote, because I took care of my people." Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, a professional earmarker, sees a direct correlation between earmarks and political longevity. "I listen and I provide. That's what I'm elected for. You show me a congressman who says, I'm not going to have any earmarks, and I'm not going to listen, and I'm not going to provide, and I'll show you a short-timer."

There is just one problem with this theory. It is dead wrong.

Click here to learn why.

On the 4th of July 2008, the ASI unveiled the world's first major public monument to Adam Smith – the great Scottish economist, philosopher, and author of The Wealth of Nations.

The monument, which takes the form of a 10-foot bronze statue on a massive stone plinth, sits on Edinburgh's Royal Mile – right in the heart of Scotland's capital city, where Adam Smith worked and died. The statue was created by Alexander Stoddart, Scotland's leading monumental sculptor, and was unveiled by Nobel Laureate Economist Professor Vernon L. Smith.

HT: Mark Perry

Thanks to Hansen, I also found a link to this virtual Tax Museum. Cool.

HT: Mary Katharine Ham