Consumer Confidential: There's little economic justification for tipping. But we can't stop doing it

Voters in Washington, D.C., decided this week to do away with the so-called tip credit, a miserable practice that allows employers - mostly restaurants - to pay dirt-cheap wages if workers also receive tips from customers.

California is one of just seven states that have eliminated the tip credit. New York and Michigan could be next. The nation's capital may become the first major American city to take the plunge on an individual basis.

Although the restaurant industry characterizes such moves as the end of the world as we know it, I say it's a good thing.

Any progress toward getting rid of the archaic, outdated system of tipping is a step in the right