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A few days ago Walmart, America’s largest employer, announced that it will raise wages for half a million workers. For many of those workers the gains will be small, but the announcement is nonetheless a very big deal, for two reasons. First, there will be spillovers: Walmart is so big that its action will probably lead to raises for millions of workers employed by other companies. Second, and arguably far more important, is what Walmart’s move tells us — namely, that low wages are a political choice, and we can and should choose differently. 几天前，美国最大的雇主沃尔玛(Walmart)宣布将为50万名员工加薪。对其中许多员工来说，涨幅是很小的，但并不妨碍此事的重要性，原因有两个。首先是会有溢出效应：以沃尔玛的规模之大，这一举动可能引致数以百万计的其他公司员工得到加薪。第二点，应该说也是更为重要的一点，沃尔玛的举动在告诉我们，低薪是一个政治选择，我们可以，也应该做出别的选择。 Some background: Conservatives — with the backing, I have to admit, of many economists — normally argue that the market for labor is like the market for anything else. The law of supply and demand, they say, determines the level of wages, and the invisible hand of the market will punish anyone who tries to defy this law. 提供一些背景：保守派——不得不承认，他们的背后有一些经济学家的支持——通常会说，劳动力市场跟任何其他东西的市场是一样的。他们说，供求法则决定薪资水平，任何人要想违背这一法则，都会遭到市场无形之手的惩罚。 | 
