4.5

While we are talking about the amount of money to sustain a family of four, you may not aware of the fact that this argument comes from the classical theory of Adam Smith, who stated that the minimum wage of a country is generally the amount of money sufficient for the subsistence of a family of four.

(Actually it was four-and-a-half in The Wealth of Nations, when childhood mortality was considerable).

Oh, it works well - in a society with free competition (I mean employers competing for labouring force), without massive flux of external cheap labour, and without the competition from technology. Alas, computers and other electronic gadgets do not need money to support a family of four - unless you have the curious habit of buying four at a time. (See http://ccszeto.blogspot.com/2009/01/employment.html)

That's all for 18th century economy. Let's apply the modern game theory and consider the cardinal question: What would happen if we set the minimum wage at an amount that could sustain a family of four ?

I shall leave it to your imagination.