US Minimum Wage

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/elizabeth-warren-minimum-wage_n_2900984.html

This seems like a rather interesting topic... I thought I would share it with everyone and see what their thoughts are. Personally, I think that they should just cut off the top 1% for 1 month (or more) from everything they own and see how quickly they give back... but that's just me.

I don't know that $22/hr would make sense though for minimum wage. $10/hr to stand in a grocery store and say "Hi" to customers seems fair to me. However, (now that I think about it) paying for college at $40K/year (or even $5K a year) is still a lot of money. Making what I make, and going to college at the same time I only brought in ~$8K (after taxes, union dues, etc.) last year. So community college @ $2500 a semester (+books, +school supplies, +transportation to school, +food, [and if you're on your own] +board/rent/etc.) is a lot of money...

Please read the article first before you actually respond. >.<

 

It's definitely an interesting topic. I think minimum wage is definitely something that needs to be talked about, because it's not like people earning minimum wage are the lazy people collecting unemployment and not even striving to attain employment because they can live off of the scraps of society. With all the expenses we incur nowadays, 7.25 is completely ludicrous in my opinion. I think things should be added such as raise based on loyalty (required raises, not as the discretion of the employer). 7.25 is honestly nothing, I get little help from parents in paying for my education, which is about 30-40 grand a year depending on a few different factors. Making minimum wage simply does not cut it, especially since college itself is a full-time job. The most irritating thing is that I have a 29 hour limit that I can work per week...at minimum wage. This further constrains me. I am lucky to bring in 6,000 a year after taxes. But factor in other needed items such as groceries and rent (or room and board in the case of many)...minimum wage is something that needs to be addressed. Even just a one dollar raise would be extremely beneficial and would make a huge difference. It may be a cliche but it is true that every bit helps. I cannot even imagine 22 dollar minimum wage...I would never stop working.

 

Minimum wage raise doesn't make sense and anyone saying it should be 22usd doesn't understand this is not what people were supposed to be making its a safe guard against unlivable wages.

Also here is a great vid explaining problems caused when raising minimum wage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct1Moeaa-W8



On a side note you know the top 1% is bullshit most people in the top 1% earned a lot that one year many are do to say selling their house those same people do not stay in the top 1% there is alot of income mobility people do not stay poor or rich they tend to drift towards the upper middle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDhcqua3_W8
Great vid on the top 1% and bottom 20%

 

Those links are not legitimate sources. Companies will not fire employees if the minimum wage goes up. It makes no sense to do so and believing that is simply asinine. If they could get more productivity out of their workers, they would have already done so with the lower wage. If they wait until they have to raise the wage they are awful business people and would fail to compete with their competition.

 

Isn't the minimum wage in the US like an average of $6 an hour?? I don't see how that is even livable. Minimum wage here in Quebec last i worked it was 9.65. That is barely livable either. Now $22 is a bit much. I think $12-15 Is a good start.

 

Unemployment on a national level will increase by a minuscule amount from a small minimum wage increase but its nothing all that noticeable. It costs businesses more to operate with higher wages so they have to find ways of making up for these losses which sometimes involves trimming their workforce. On the other hand, if a drastic change in minimum wage was made like completely abolishing it or raising it to $22 it would have a huge inverse relation to unemployment. That's why in poverty stricken places like Detroit the idea of removing minimum wage has been discussed to give the huge unemployed population a chance to earn some income.

So its difficult to balance minimum wage; too high and unemployment increases and too low people barely have enough to get by. Right now minimum wage is $10.25 in my area which I think is fair, however its very difficult for young adults 16-21ish to find even a crappy job like working at mcdonalds (mainly due to the immigrant population taking these positions).

Gotta remember that a dollar in the US goes a lot farther than a dollar in Canada. Products are significantly cheaper in the US so their minimum wage allows them to buy around as much as Canada's. Never really understood why their's such a price difference considering our currencies are almost on parity...

 

Thats true i forgot to take that into account.

EDIT: Are they really thinking about removing min wage in detroit? That can't be good for anyone. Next up is hey lets let 12 year olds work construction or in factories.

 

"Considering" may have been too strong of a word lol. I don't actually think they're actually going to but the idea has been brought up before.

 

Minimum wage is crazy, People need higher wages to work hard.

 

The Canadian dollar is nearly a 1:1 with the US dollar.

 

Yes they are there is nothing wrong with liberty pen those are highly respected economist's. BTW what I wrote didn't need a source it was rational thinking the video was just an explanation for those who are uneducated on capitalism/economics.

On a side note even in your phantasy world where employment is not effected it will drive up cost to produce things. So everything gets more expensive and who is hurt the most are people making above minimum wage.


Saying not legitimate sources would require you to assert which points are incorrect and to prove that they are invalid the burden of proof is on you.

 

Exchange rate is only part of what determines a goods sale price, it has to do with a business's profit margin. Taxes are much higher in Canada compared to the US so retailers have to raise the price to make up for the lost margin. This is why thousands of Canadians daily cross the border to go shopping in places like Buffalo to take advantage of cheaper prices. The difference in price is quite noticeable, whenever I travel to the US i'm surprised at how cheap some items are compared to their price at home.

 

Buy internationally.

I'm sure it depends on the type of goods as well.

 

Everything has an effect. People don't have money? Well, let's just raise minimum wage.. this has its own consequences; People get fired, because the establishment can't cover wages, which makes the prices of goods go up. Not everything is so simple.

 

The left are just stupid collectivist who just think in small terms with zero lateral thinking on their idea's. While the libertarian right are for putting proven idea's to fix the economy.


Obama has literally done worse economically then any president in US history he makes Bush & Clinton look great in comparison which is pretty fucking sad.

BTW before people start raging about me bashing Clinton remember Clinton's administration caused the housing collapse.

 

Minimum wage in Poland is about two bucks an hour, just sayin'. I'll read the article when I get home and then possibly leave a comment.

 

minimum wage in the uk is around $11 give or take with economic fluctuations

 

Polish people are hard workers, its a shame that those i have met are rude.

 

Either hyperinflation would begin or a blackmarket would start operating or more likely both. The dollar would lose all its value immediately and the economy would crumble. However applying this logic of an extreme situation to a very minor upward revision is plainly stupid and obviously incorrect.

Or it won't increase at all. They will recoup their losses by increasing prices. Removing minimum wage will just create jobs that will not last past a minimum wage increase and thus it will do nothing but hurt the lower income people (since they won't be able to afford to live) and make some people rich while driving down wage rates across the country. My minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. For a 48 hour week I make about $250 bucks. No one can realistically live on that.

You can't just link a video that just says a bunch of stuff and not back it up.