[nearbuy]

I'm not doubting that we can choose a rate for the living wage.

I'm asking about the sentence I quoted. What makes the living wage the "true cost" of labor? Why consider it to be a cost that private industry should rightfully pay, and if they don't, they're "externalising" it to the government?

By the same logic, isn't nearly all government spending just externalized costs? When the government pays for roads or police, are these also externalized costs that private industry should pay for?

It sounds like a minarchist viewpoint, where government spending is kept to a minimum and services are privatized.