With the economy in its current tenuous state, economists are considering radical alternatives to traditional policies and understandings of the way the economy functions. For example, some economists argue that the minimum wage should be abolished. Two columnists for The Daily Reveille, Mark Macmurdo and Daniel Morgan, discuss what they think — both are economics majors, and both have agreements and disagreements on what they think about minimum wage. Here’s what they discussed:MARK MACMURDO — So Daniel, we’re both students of economics. Supply and demand curves tell us setting a minimum wage doesn’t allow markets to be efficient. There’s what we call a dead weight loss — inefficiency created when Congress dictates prices. But I don’t think that’s the whole story.DANIEL MORGAN — Economics has taught us both a lot, but I don’t know how much it has to say here. Price-setting is a zero-sum affair. It doesn’t create new wealth, it just shuffles old wealth around. Economics might tell us how many will be unemployed because of minimum wage or how much workers will gain from minimum wage laws, but economics can’t tell us which is worth more. That’s not a question for economists, that’s a question for ethicists.MACMURDO — That is true. But when we sit here talking about how a minimum wage will impact the economy, it’s impossible to escape the ethical questions. I see no reason we can’t discuss both from the top of the soap box.Even though I know a minimum wage is inefficient, I think students of economics should be concerned with more than just cold hard calculations. Isn’t fairness (or at least the appearance of it) ultimately more valuable to our society than record profits for shareholders?MORGAN — That’s a judgment call I have a hard time making. It’s easier to consider the effects of minimum wage at the margins. Right now if an employee is willing to work for $7.00 per hour and an employer can only afford to pay $7.15 per hour, then they aren’t able to do business together. I don’t see how this promotes “fairness” — or “record profits for shareholders,” for that matter.And besides, you can’t be that against minimum wage. You’re only being paid ten dollars for this exchange, and we’ve already been here for an hour.MACMURDO — But if we don’t have a bottom, companies will be able to take advantage of workers because of the company’s ability to act as a single player. Sure, you can come up with examples “on the margins” where everyone loses, but my contention is that in the big picture of things, minimum wage is a socially stabilizing force.MORGAN— I’m not sure the labor market is that lop-sided. In 2008, 2.2 million Americans were paid at or below the federal minimum wage, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s not even one percent of the country. In Louisiana, we had an estimated 4.4 million people, and 48 thousand were paid at or below minimum wage. I see workers who have something to offer and companies that are willing to pay money for it, and they have to bid against other companies to get those valuable workers. The vast majority of companies pay above minimum wage. It’s not as necessary as you’re making it out to be.MACMURDO — If less than one percent of Americans are getting paid at the minimum wage, I think it decreases the significance we usually attribute to current minimum wage — both socially and economically. It shows it’s not high enough to be doing anything serious. There are definitely people out there who believe the government should be more involved in setting the market price of labor (and would like that percentage to increase). I’m not one of them. However, I do think that government can certainly make observations about the market, and ensure that employees are not taken advantage of. Maybe the fact that the number of people working at minimum wage is so low because the wage is so low. We also shouldn’t forget that many states choose to set their minimum wages well above the federal level (Louisiana isn’t one of them).MORGAN — If it were high enough to have a major effect, then it would be even more damaging. I don’t think there’s any margin where I’d stop two strangers from engaging in voluntary exchange because I don’t like the price they’re agreeing to.If you want to, you can ask your boss for a raise and quit if he doesn’t cave in. That might be a good strategy in some cases. At any level minimum wage forces workers to do that. That goes against my moral sensibilities.With an unemployment rate at 9.5 percent, now seems like an excellent time to do away with minimum wage laws. What do you think of that, Trebek?MACMURDO — If you could possibly make the case that a sizable portion of that 9.5 percent was because employers aren’t able to afford their workers, I’d agree. Personally, I haven’t been persuaded that’s the case. MORGAN — I think most small business owners would disagree with you, but I don’t know how much we can say from the armchair.MACMURDO — And we’re in college right now. I think getting out of this chair would require a bit more work than I’m willing to commit to. MORGAN — Word. Let’s just talk about ethics.Mark Macmurdo is a 22-year-old economics senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mmacmurdo.  Daniel Morgan is a 21-year-old economics senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_dmorgan.—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at [email protected]