[eesmith]

In the US, the minimum age to purchase alcohol is 21. It used to be 18. In other places it's younger, and/or it depends on the alcoholic content of the drink.

So, is 21 the right age? Is 18? Is 16?

Honest question: how would you go about answering your question?

Economists disagree with each other, so it's not something that an HN comment is going to resolve.

Me, I based it on how the minimum wage from the 1950s, adjusted for productivity, would be about $25/hour - https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/21/politics/minimum-wage-inf... .

This means the productivity benefits are going somewhere, but not to the poorest people who are working the most.

Raise minimum wage to $20/hour (and/or increase collective barganining power), and raise taxes on the wealthiest, and increase the social safety net - pretty bog-standard social democratic viewpoints.