Joe Biden has pledged to raise America's national minimum wage to $15 an hour. Economists traditionally believed that minimum wages actually hurt workers, but recent research has led to a rethink.<br /><br />Sign up to The Economist’s newsletter to stay up to date: https://econ.st/3tgaHl5 <br /><br />Find all of our finance and economics coverage: https://econ.st/3pujLQM <br /><br />Why does low unemployment no longer lift inflation? https://econ.st/3j8sWEj <br /><br />Why a surge in inflation looks unlikely: https://econ.st/3oHqMg7 <br /><br />What the Big Mac index tells you about currency wars: https://econ.st/3as0ysH <br /><br />Read our special report on the world economy: https://econ.st/3j78Qdy <br /><br />Economists are turning to culture to explain wealth and poverty: https://econ.st/3oGhu3Y <br /><br />What is the economic impact of the latest round of lockdowns? https://econ.st/3j77Aak <br /><br />Could the pandemic cause economists to rethink welfare? https://econ.st/36AgoR7 <br /><br />Why governments can borrow more than was once believed: https://econ.st/3oKO6cG <br /><br />Why Joe Biden’s proposed stimulus is too big: https://econ.st/2YMyMSl <br /><br />Will President Biden’s fiscal stimulus overheat the American economy? https://econ.st/36zXLfP <br /><br />How quickly will America’s labour market recover? https://econ.st/3tkg5n1 <br /><br />How wage gains for low earners helped to sustain America’s economic expansion: https://econ.st/3aqwBsX