President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress want to raise the minimum wage to improve the lot of the working poor. But they’ve got the wrong idea. The problem is not that these workers earn so little; it’s that the things they buy cost so much. I propose instead to outlaw high prices.

No one, after all, likes paying too much. So let’s put a stop to it. Gas is too expensive? Make it $2 a gallon, max. Bread and meat take a big bite out of the family budget? Poor people could eat better if they had to pay only $1 a loaf and $1 a pound.