The wages of cigs  Michael Bloomberg just gave New York’s
politicians a timely lesson on the minimum wage — even though he
was talking about cigarettes.  This week the mayor introduced
yet another measure to curb smoking. He’s asking the City
Council to pass a law that would mean no one could charge less
than $10.50 for a pack of cigarettes, which is designed to raise
the price for some discount brands. The economic assumption is
straightforward: Make something more expensive and people will
buy less of it.  Given the undeniable health risks from smoking
and the widespread public disapproval of the habit, this
Bloomberg bid is likely to find more favor than his soda ban.
For argument’s sake, we’ll leave aside the complication of the
thriving black market in cigarettes — created by high city and
state taxes that already make the cost of smokes higher here
than in other states.  So our question is this: If a higher
price for cigarettes means fewer cigarette sales, won’t higher
prices for labor mean fewer jobs?