Posted on 03/05/2021 3:56:48 AM PST by Kaslin
"It is utterly embarrassing that "pay people enough to live" is a stance that's even up for debate," Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently tweeted. "Override the parliamentarian and raise the wage. McD's workers in Denmark are paid $22/hr + 6 wks paid vacation. $15/hr is a deep compromise -- a big one, considering the phase in."
The most obvious problem with Ocasio-Cortez's contention is that Denmark, like other Scandinavian nations, doesn't have a statutory minimum wage. Industries and workers engage in sector-by-sector salary negotiations, which might well undermine intra-industry competition, but which is a much better idea than the flat national-wage floor being peddled by Democrats. So, this popular progressive talking point about Denmark's miracle middle-class fast-food worker doesn't make much sense to begin with.
Especially when one considers that the per-capita income in the United States is virtually the same as in Denmark -- quite a feat given that we're a pluralistic nation of around 330 million people that naturalizes another 900,000 people every year, many from poor nations, and that Denmark is a homogeneous country of fewer than 6 million citizens that, in recent years, has effectively shut down its borders to poor immigrants.
Denmark's generous welfare state is propped up by shared social and cultural norms, and institutions that are habitually reviled by American progressives: unimpeded international trade, low regulatory burdens on business, and sometimes oil and gas checks -- Denmark and Norway are Western Europe's largest oil and gas producers.
Then there is the matter of what exactly $45,000 -- the salary an employee making $22 an hour on a full-time basis would earn -- means in each country. Denmark can afford its system because high taxes are paid by all its citizens, not just the wealthy. Not only do Danish fast-food employees making $45,000 hand over around half their earnings to the government, they pay a 25% value-added tax on most purchases, as well as a number of other levies. In return, Danes are afforded all kinds of government-provided services. Presumably, Ocasio-Cortez approves of this arrangement. Either way, Americans whose eyes light up at the prospect of making $22 per hour should know that nearly $11 of that goes straight to the state.
Further, how much does a hamburger cost in Denmark? Spoiler: Considerably more. If the federal government forced fast-food chains to start paying employees $22 per hour, and giving them six weeks paid vacation, and health care, and all the other goodies that progressive want to compel companies to offer, American consumers should be prepared to pay more for food or to be served by robots. The last time there was a push for a $15 minimum wage, in 2015-2016, McDonald's quickly rolled out a touchscreen self-service kiosk makeover. Since then, that technology has only gotten better -- and cheaper. Big chains like to offer up rhetoric that pleases the activist left, but in the end, they are not charities but businesses with stakeholders. And profits matter.
Now, I understand that socialists would be happy creating a permanent proletariat that is reliant on government to fix their wages and dictate all benefits. And, certainly, there is nothing demeaning about taking a job at a fast-food restaurant. For many young people, it's a temporary stop where they can take on responsibility for the first time and earn some money. For others, who need these jobs, it offers flexible hours and part-time work. Most people do not make careers out of working at Wendy's. Fast-food chains have massive employee turnover rates. Some experience a 100% turnover every year.
The other day, Ocasio-Cortez argued that, "when we keep the minimum wage artificially low, it's at a huge cost to our government ... they're essentially enormous subsidies to Walmart." The notion that Ocasio-Cortez is apprehensive about government subsidies is, of course, risible. But she's also wrong. Walmart, which revolutionized shopping by offering millions of low-income Americans affordable goods (progressives never mention that part of the equation), recently increased its internal minimum wage to $13-$19 per hour for most workers, while Amazon, Target and Costco have raised their minimum wages to $15 per hour. Is this a good idea? We'll see. As Thomas Sowell once pithily noted, all public policy is about tradeoffs. The increases will help some workers, no doubt. But they will also cost jobs, either by leading to less overall hiring or by forcing consumers to pay "artificially" high prices, rather than spending the difference elsewhere.
Ocasio-Cortez's rhetoric implies that there is something artificial about a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour but nothing artificial about a minimum wage of $15. This is ridiculous. The only nonartificial minimum wage is zero -- which, incidentally, is what the 1.4 million people the CBO says would lose work due to a $15 national minimum wage will be making if AOC's side of the argument wins.
Minimum wage: if you can’t produce enough, you’re not allowed to earn at all.
I wonder why Democrats hate poor people.
22 Denmark dollars = $3.57 USD
I am in favor of raising the min. wage then tying increases to to inflation. This gets this divisive Republican splitting SILLY issue off the table.
“when we keep the minimum wage artificially low”
Far out, man. “When we keep the fake thing at a fake level ...”
I used to work for minimum wage, but every time it was raised our hours were cut 50%.Does every one deserve a raise? I don’t think so. In one place where I worked, there was one person who used to work on Sunday, but she was always late because she was out partying all night on Saturday, and then she comes in late and complained “oh I am soooooooo tired”.
Move to denmark if you want 22 bucks an hour working at mcdonalds... Problem solved. Sheese how dumb can people get??. Please dont answer that because every day theres a new record set.
Why would anyone hire anyone in the current insane climate? The government wants to set the minimum hourly rate of pay, making it unprofitable to hire anyone.
These leftists, who have never worked at a real job, believe that employers exploit their employees and that the government must set all the conditions of work, including hourly rate of pay.
If we paid $15 per hour would they always remember napkins and a straw in the drive through? Nope....
Sandy Cortez has an “economics degree” to boot.
In other words, Denmark doesn't need a minimum wage because they have strong unions covering most workers. Which would be preferable here, mandated minimum wage or semi-universal unionization?
The $22 is the conversion to US$.
Denmark doesn’t have a minimum wage.
Their “minimum wage” is a nominal average low wage arrived at by capitalism.
Leave the market alone, and the market will figure out what work is worth - which may very well be more than a mandated minimum. Enforce a minimum, and many jobs may be driven DOWN to that number “because minwage”.
FUNNY how that conversion of money is NEVER included....
AOC is beyond nuts.
Ocasio-Cortez just a flat line wage pimp.
So who did the work you were doing during that cut 50% of the time? Did they hire someone else to do it. I THINK SO.
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