I'm John Donbass, host and moderator of Intelligent Squared U.S., although widespread retail

workers' strikes failed to force an increase in the federal minimum wage in 2013.

On the state level, the tide seems to be turning.

Last week, 13 states started the new year by raising their minimum wages, and as many

as 11 other states, plus Washington, D.C., are considering similar legislation in 2014.

To shed some light on this evolving public debate surrounding wage gaps in the U.S., we are

revisiting a debate that we staged last spring, abolish the minimum wage.

That evening, James Dorn of the Cato Institute and popular economist Russ Roberts argued for

that motion, they faced Jared Bernstein from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,

and Karen Cornblow, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama.

We have two teams of two arguing for and against abolishing the minimum wage.

The side arguing for the motion, Russell Roberts and James Dorn have said that the minimum

wage actually should be abolished.

It should be abolished actually because it hurts the people that is trying to help, that

it makes workers artificially more expensive, and that that is something that kills jobs.

The team arguing against abolishing the minimum wage, in fact, they're saying that it should

be raised, say that few policies have worked better as designed over 75 years than this

one, and they say they're making the moral argument that to abolish the minimum wage

would pull the rug out from under millions of American families who are depending on it.

I want to put a question to the side that is arguing to abolish the minimum wage in

terms of impact, if the minimum wage were abolished today, effective tomorrow, what do you think

would happen?

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