Should the government raise the federal minimum wage?
Higher minimum wages increase production costs, which then raises the prices of everything. Minimum…
The number one rule of good economics is to not just look at the effects certain laws and programs have on favoured groups, but rather to study how they affect society as a whole. And while minimum wage laws might in theory help those lucky few workers who keep their jobs, there is much more to take into thoughtful consideration.
For starters, if the employer is forced to pay more money to each worker by the government, he will have to compensate for the extra expense by (1) reducing the numbers of workers under his care, thus reducing employment and harming a large amount of workers (2) cut corners and costs of his product, which is seldom good for quality and often makes things much more poorly-made than ever before (3) raising the prices of the goods he produces, which inevitably forces consumers (including the workers who are now earning higher wages) to pay ore for everyday items (and since minimum wages are seldom imposed on a certain industry, this raises costs in virtually all areas of the economy) (4) going out of business altogether because of artificial and unrealistic legal obligations, which means the destruction of the jobs of ALL of his workers and a subsequent spike in unemployment.
But these negative affects, while they happen almost without exception, are seldom noticed by people. People see what the government ruling-class wants them to see -- they see the workers who have kept their jobs and are now earning more money. The may notice a rise in the price of goods, but never connect event a to event b. They will not however notice the loss of jobs or the jobs that were never created. Minimum wages do nothing, thank you very much
@VulcanMan6 6mos6MO
I find it incredibly funny that you do not recognize how all of this:
"if the employer is forced to pay more money to each worker by the government, he will have to compensate for the extra expense by (1) reducing the numbers of workers under his care, thus reducing employment and harming a large amount of workers (2) cutcorners and costs of his product, which is seldom good for quality and often makes things much more poorly-made than ever before (3) raising the prices of the goods he produces, which inevitably forces consumers (including the workers who are now earning higher wages) to… Read more
@Patriot-#1776Constitution6mos6MO
So your "solution" is expecting people to work without the benefit of pay or a chance to rise in station in the world (it being a classless society) – that people who do not work will make just as much as those who do work? You must have great faith in the purity of human nature if you expect everyone to altruistic work for the common good with nothing in it for them, hold hands, and sing koom-bye-ya. Classless societies have been attempted before in history (yes I mean TRUE classlessness, not just a socialist dictator and a political ruling class dictating the lives of peasan… Read more
@VulcanMan6 6mos6MO
Firstly, I find it interesting how you assume "classlessness" must mean an equality of outcome, and also your assumption that "a chance to rise in station" must mean holding power over others. I disagree with both. Classlessness does not inherently mean that everyone and everything must be completely equal, it merely means that all people have equal access to the same means of opportunity and decision-making (aka equality of opportunity). Two people who have different levels of "wealth" but equal levels of access to resources and decision-making power are not in different "classes", because "class" in a socio-economic context is about ownership over the means of production, not of how much money or "stuff" that you have/get. So no, I don't expect everyone in a classless society to inherently make the same amount of money regardless of work or skill, but I do expect every worker to share equal ownership over the profits they produce and equal decision-making power within their own workplaces and communities, because that'sRead more