Made at the same time as the downwards revision of its U.S. growth forecast for 2014, the IMF’s recommendation that U.S. authorities increase the minimum wage flew well under the market’s radar but is, by all measures, very intriguing. It is hardly standard operating procedure for the New York-based organization to suggest that a wage increase be used to increase the economic outlook of a country.
Seven years after the start of the economic crisis, does this recommendation point to an acknowledgment that ongoing policies have failed and need to be replaced? Seemingly, this is the message that is being sent, judging by the positions taken and papers published in recent months. The IMF’s recommendation would then worth more attention than it has been given up until now