Last week, Ted Kennedy, the US senator, tried to raise the minimum wage by $1.10, to $6.25 an hour. His measure was defeated, as was a more business-friendly Republican alternative. The pattern is familiar. Congress shot down a similar plan in 2001 and such wage hikes have met resistance elsewhere. Britain, it is true, saw a 20p rise in the minimum wage this month, but more typical has been the experience in Australia. There, the Howard government wants to strip the Australian Industrial Relations Commission of rights to set wages that it has enjoyed since the country’s federation in 1901.

The economic case for a higher minimum wage looks strong at first glance. In the US, it was last raised in 1998. The minimum now pays only one-third of the average salary, at a time of rising energy and healthcare prices. As Mr Kennedy noted, a year of minimum-wage work leaves a single mother with two children thousands of dollars below the poverty line.