The Obama administration's minimum wage hike for federal workers doesn't address the real issues facing the American workforce, according to retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, a potential candidate in the next GOP presidential primary.

"They keep looking at the symptoms rather than getting to the root of the problem. The root of the problem is that we have policies in place that keep the economy suppressed," Carson told John Bachman, guest host of "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"If you let the economy work the way it's supposed to in a free market environment, there'll be plenty of jobs and people determine their own value by what they know and what they are capable of doing.

"You don't declare a value for a person. That's not the way a free market economy works and if someone only brings a certain amount of value to a position, if you pay them more than that, then you've skewed the equation quite significantly."

Carson, who was director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, said when the minimum wage is raised, others with higher pay scales also want raises.

"The people who are two or three levels above aren't going to be satisfied working for the same as an entry level person who has no knowledge," he said.

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