This paper studies the judicial, political, and intellectual battles over minimum wages from the early state laws of the 1910s through the peak in the real federal minimum in 1968. Early laws were limited to women and children and were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court between 1923 and 1937. The first federal law in 1938 initially exempted large portions of the workforce and set rates that became effectively obsolete during World War II. Later amendments raised minimum rates, but coverage did not expand until 1961. The states led the way in rates and coverage in the 1940s and 50s and again since the 1980s. The most contentious questions of today—the impact of minimum wages on earnings and employment—were already being addressed by economists in the 1910s. By about 1960, these discussions had surprisingly modern concerns about causality but did not have modern econometric tools or data.

中文翻译：

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美国最低工资的兴起，1912 年至 1968 年

本文研究了从 1910 年代早期的州法律到 1968 年真正的联邦最低工资的顶峰，关于最低工资的司法、政治和知识斗争。早期的法律仅限于妇女和儿童，被最高法院裁定为违宪。 1923 年和 1937 年。1938 年的第一部联邦法律最初豁免了大部分劳动力，并设定了在二战期间实际上已经过时的税率。后来的修正案提高了最低费率，但覆盖范围直到 1961 年才扩大。各州在 1940 年代和 50 年代以及自 1980 年代以来的费率和覆盖率方面一直处于领先地位。当今最有争议的问题——最低工资对收入和就业的影响——已经在 1910 年代被经济学家解决。到 1960 年左右，