In his capacity as part of a team of accreditors for the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) Root has been involved in issues related to higher education accreditation. He is a graduate of the University of Montana where he earned his B.A. and M.A. in political science. He earned his Ph.D. in political science at the Claremont Graduate School.
He has two published books from Lexington Press focus on a critical period in American history related to slavery and emancipation: All Honor to Jefferson? and Sons of the Fathers. He has worked for the John Locke Foundation and La Jolla Institute where his writing and research interests focused on state and local government issues of transit, property taxation, property rights, eminent domain, zoning, planning, and land use development. Root is a native of Los Angeles and grew up in Oregon.
- Minimum Wage Laws Claim Another Business - February 4, 2015
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- Repeal the Jones Act - September 18, 2013
Be looking for more of this as minimum wage laws take effect in many cities. In this iteration, the Daily Caller notes that a beloved San Francisco bookstore will have to close because minimum wage laws.
Back in November, residents of the city voted to increase the minimum wage gradually to $15 an hour over the course of three years. Though the wage hike was designed to help address income inequality, several businesses have already had to close. …
When it came time to break the news to his six employees, [Borderlands Books owner Alan] Beatts decided it was best to talk with each of them individually. He knew it would be tough because his employees love books, love the written word and to them, it was more than just a job.
“I spoke to each of my employees individually,” Beatts notes. “The typical reaction was shock and sadness.”
Michael Saltsman, the research director at the Employment Policies Institute, fears that more is to come as a result of the wage increase.
“We’re probably just seeing the beginning of this,” Saltsman told TheDCNF. “In a relatively short period of time it’s concerning we have a couple stories like these popup.”
“What we do know is San Francisco is an expensive place to do business,” Saltsman also noted. “It’s pretty clear that if this minimum wage didn’t go up, this business would still be open.”
Advocates of minimum wage laws argue that it is more humanitarian to force wage increases, but how humanitarian is it to cost someone their business or their job? We should note that Borderlands closure is but one of several in San Francisco since the wage increase law passed.
