Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review and Bloomberg View and Bryce Covert of the Roosevelt Institute recently discussed the gender pay gap on Bloggingheads.

Watch them hash out the issue here:

Ponnuru’s basic point:

The pay gap is exaggerated, discrimination doesn’t drive it and it’s not clear that government can eliminate it — or should even try.

Covert complicates this notion:

Wouldn’t it be great if the gap didn’t exist because women are held back and given less, but because they simply want different things? And it’s certainly true that the fact that women are congregated in a different set of jobs and often have to leave the workforce when they have children plays a role. But even this can’t explain away the gap.