Posted on 01/13/2007 6:02:39 PM PST by george76
In the first hundred hours of the just-started session of Congress, the new leadership promises to raise the minimum wage. The Democrats won't be opposed by many Republicans.
Raising the minimum wage is definitely popular. Voters in six states approved higher minimums last Election Day. State politicians in both parties are practically drooling with eagerness to "help" lower-income workers.
We all want the poor to make more money. So if government can raise wages by decree, why are the popular proposals so stingy?
Let's really do something for the poor. Let's raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. Even better, $50!
Or maybe we should take a deep breath and think like economists for a change.
The law of supply and demand, which operates whether we like it or not, says that when the price of something goes up, people buy less of it. That's why environmentalists like higher gasoline taxes, and anti-smoking activists back higher cigarette taxes.
The law of supply and demand works in the labor market, too. If government mandates a higher minimum wage, some workers will get a raise. Some. But something else will happen. Employers will hire fewer low-skilled workers. Others will let some current workers go. Some will choose not to expand their businesses. A few will close altogether.
Only 2.5 percent of all hourly workers make $5.15 an hour ...says the Department of Labor. "Minimum wage workers tend to be young."
Few of them stay at the minimum wage for long. As they acquire skills, their productivity rises and they command higher wages.
Legal wage minimums kill all kinds of entry-level jobs, particularly those that would teach young people basic work habits and the benefits of effort. That's why there are no kids cleaning your windows at gas stations or ...
(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...
The old saying : Hire a teenager, while they still know it all.
Reality will hit eventually...
It is easy for them to stay 'stuck on stupid.'
The industrial revolution is long gone.
But I hear that Idaho is beautiful with lots of nice people.
Now, if we could just get rid of the imported Canadian wolves...
In 1963 one hour at minimum wage would gross enough to buy lunch for three,I don't know about that but I do know it would have been enough for about 5 gallons of gas at a full serve "service station" where the "service station attendants" were likey paid minimum wage.
As if all price increases are the result of the minimum wage.
It's more than pathetic to read about Wall Street divying up BILLION$ amongst themselves as if they actually earned it and investors patting themselves on the back for record high stock market earnings while crying about how the lowly minimum wage worker is going to ruin their lives...
I don't know about that but I do know it would have been enough for about 5 gallons of gas at a full serve "service station" where the "service station attendants" were likey paid minimum wage.
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The five gallons sounds about right. Minimum went to $1.25 that year. In the town where I went to high school a nice cheeseburger could be had for a quarter, a drink was a dime so three people could have a cheeseburger and drink for $1.05 leaving twenty cents to buy fries if you wanted them. Even if you wanted something more you could have bought lunch for two very easily with $1.25. I have to look long and hard now to find lunch for one for $5.15.
True
Now, if we could just get rid of the imported Canadian wolves...
Things on my "to do" list: get 2007 hunting license. Time permitting: get a wolf tag and find a good taxidermist. I've lived in Idaho since Dec 2000. My employer has managed to send me out of town during every big game hunting season since I moved. No point in wasting money on a tag for deer, elk or moose. I wouldn't be here to use it.
Since you seem to be ignorant of the minimum wage, I will attempt to bring you up to speed. It was you who said I was "absurd"....remember.
Union jobs are tied to the minimum wage. They are in multiples. A dollar increase in the minimum wage will end up being 3 to 5 dollars in union wages. Who will end up paying for these increases. It is geometric, in relation to simply increasing the minimum wage. Remember that only 2.5 percent of the work force even work for a minimum wage.
I NEVER said YOU were absurd, I said your post was absurd and I still say so. I read all about the union wage multiples but unions do not have the power to create inflation. If a union succeeds in obtaining higher wages for its members they will have more money and someone else will have less, this does not equal inflation. Jeez, this is so simple I don't know why people have such a hard time seeing it. Apparently it is you who are ignorant, of the most obvious economic matters.
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