This is a special podcast for Labor Day. The first attempt at establishing a national minimum wage, a part of 1933’s sweeping National Industrial Recovery Act, was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1935. But in 1938, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law a minimum hourly wage of 25 cents—$4.07 in today’s dollars. Three-quarters of a century later, we are still debating the merits of this cornerstone of the New Deal. Do we need government to ensure a decent paycheck, or would low-wage workers and the economy be better off without its intervention?

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Bonus Podcast: Should We Abolish the Minimum Wage?

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Open to Debate Episodes Around September 4, 2015

#99 - Is Amazon The Reader's Friend?

Tribute To David Carr

#100 - Should The World Bet On America?

#101 - Are Liberals Stifling Intellectual Diversity?

#102 - Should The U.S. Adopt The Right To Be Forgotten Online?

#103 - Has The President Exceeded His Authority By Waging War Without Congress?

#104 - Should We Abolish the Death Penalty?

#105 - Is Smart Technology Making Us Dumb?

Bonus Podcast: Too Many Kids Go To College

#106 - Is Obama's Iran Deal Good For America?

#107 - Should States Be Required To License Same-Sex Marriages?

Bonus Podcast: Men Are Finished

Bonus Podcast: Obamacare Is Now Beyond Rescue

Bonus Podcast: Israel Can Live With A Nuclear Iran

#108 - Does The U.S. Need To Defeat ISIS, Or Is Containment Enough?

Bonus Podcast: Should We Abolish the Minimum Wage?

#109 - Should Courts Or Campuses Decide Sexual Assault Cases?

#110 - Are China And The U.S. Long-Term Enemies?

Bonus Podcast: Is Death Final?

#111 - Should We Raise The Federal Gas Tax To Fund Infrastructure?

#112 - Should College Students Be Allowed To Take Smart Drugs?

#113 - Do U.S. Prosecutors Have Too Much Power?

#114 - Can Central Banks Print Prosperity?

#115 - Does The Equal Protection Clause Forbid Racial Preferences In State University Admissions?

#116 - Should The U.S. Let In 100,000 Syrian Refugees?

#117 - Are Lifespans Long Enough?

#118 - Is Free Speech Threatened On Campus?

#119 - Should We Trust The Promise Of Artificial Intelligence?

#120 - Eliminate Corporate Subsidies

#121 - Do Hunters Conserve Wildlife?

#122 - Has The President Usurped The Constitutional Power Of Congress?

Summary