Minimum wage levels in selected developed economies, in PPP$ and as a share of median full-time wage, 2010 SOURCE
Could I see the math for that first statement please? I have heard this kind of thing a lot, I just never thought to ask to see the numbers.
Usually I'm in favor of letting the market set the prevailing wage. Artificially inflating (or deflating) wages, prices, or anything else usually has nasty side-effects later on. p.s. To Hell with corporate personhood too.
I think free market means exploiting the stupid people and eventually leading to near monarchies of the super wealthy. (see Heinz being bought out)
Minimum wage increases are a way for politicians to pay off unions since many (if not most) union pay scales are indexed to the minimum wage.
Why not $20/hr for the minimum wage? $50? $1000 Pandering to low-information voters. It's what Obama does best.
Personally I've felt that minimum wage should be related to the cost of buying a car and a house. Something like minimum wage is at least twice the cost of a new car (it doesn't matter what new car). Or 5 times the minimum wage annual salary is the cost of a house.
What are the economic benefits of such a minimum wage? What are the projected job losses under such a plan?
Monopolies and oligopolies are bad (generally) for economies too (unless it's an industry or activity that has really high barriers to entry and needs massive economies of scale for efficiency), but typically what happens with an artificially high minimum wage is that those increased operating costs get passed on to the consumer, increasing inflation and suppressing hiring which keeps unemployment up. I'm certainly no dyed in the wool conservative, but the invisible hand (when left to operate mostly freely) has a funny knack for finding a point of equilibrium.
Well I make a poor assumption that it would help our economy by stimulating more purchasing. I have not researched if this is true. I think that companies have already pushed for workers to be much more efficient, and that we are nearly at peak efficiency (but that is not necessarily for minimum wage, because I have no knowledge of the subject. So yes it could potentially cost jobs, BUT I think the minimum wage jobs are ones that cannot be outsourced and cannot be cut back further. maybe I'm wrong, but we probably will never find out. It simply won't happen. Here's an article I found interesting and perhaps your ilk will flaunt. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323717004578157331091972730.html
Perhaps, but I think the oligopolies know how to play the game and cheat the system, then run away when they won. (example 1)
Minimum wage is a regressive tax that hits the lowest wage earners the hardest. When faced with being forced to raise wages, companies may lay off some workers to compensate. The alternative is the "tax" - raise prices. But those who favor this sort of thing favor all sorts of taxes, so it's no surprise.
I just wanted to share this liberal view: http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/min-wage1-2012-03.pdf
Productivity is what happens when employers are encouraged to get more work out of existing workers' hours. What do you think the price of a gallon of milk would be if minimum wage was $21.72 right now? Of a burger at MacDonalds?
Let's take Australia for an example. Minimum wage is basically 16AU$/hr. Let's take the price of Maccas(McDonald) Their "McOz," which is probably close to a cheeseburger, costs 4.95Au$. Which is 5/16 one hour's worth in minimum wage. So I would speculate it would mean the cost of a burger at this MacDonalds (which I've yet to hear of before) would be close to 8$ if the US minimum wage were 22$/hr.
Yeah, except you can't take Australia's demographics and apply it to the USA and think you'll have similar results.
Maybe you're right! Should we look at the demographics of US in the 1960s? Or should we look at the imaginary demogrpahics of make-believe land where we can use theories and possibilities?
