Minimum Wage destroys jobs--again!

people like to get caught up in economic theory. You know, where there is that mythical employee who can leave a jon whenever he chooses.

Who can do this in real life?? If it was so easy to leave a job and pick up another we'd all do it every time we had a bad day at the burger stand!
 
Tmy said:
So if Wallymart needs 10 guysto run a shift, THey have 10 guys. If the min wage goes up, theyre not going to just have 9 guys on shift. They NEED 10.
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Not if there is a technological solution that is cheaper than hiring a 10th worker.
 
TragicMonkey said:
Is it better to have two people working full time but not making enough to survive on, or have one person make enough to survive on while the other is unemployed?
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Better question: is it right to force the latter?

Besides, the overwhelming majority of people on minimum wage are teens/college students or people just entering the workforce or after a long absence. And they generally don't stay there long. Minimum Wage means eliminating these entry-level jobs for many people.
 
Ziggurat said:
If helping out the working poor is your objective, there's a much more direct and effective solution than raising the minimum wage: raise the earned income credit.
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That's exactly what the author of the study advocated (which should nix any possibility of people here claiming he's a libertarian with bias).
 
TragicMonkey said:
But if they're both requiring state assistance even while working, and will have to declare bankruptcy if they get sick, then what's the point?
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To get work experience and move on to a better-paying job.

If I'm going to starve to death whether I'm working or not, I don't see what my motivation is to work. To drag it out a little longer?
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Fortunately, most people have better foresight than you. They realize that their MW job is getting them the experience and references they need.
 
Skeptic said:
Let's take an extreme case: suppose there are no minimum wage laws. Suppsoe further A is B's slave
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That's it, folks. No need to read further.

I'd like for you to go to those poor who just lost their jobs and tell them how wonderful it is for them that they're not "exploited" anymore. See how many punch you in the face...
 
Snide said:
I think you're right in principle. If, say 50,000 got 10% raises, while 40 lost their minimum-wage jobs and thus had to go on welfare, is that really such a bad result?
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For that 40 it is. Why do you feel you get to harm that 40 to benefit the others?

I mean, it's kind of like the whole, "here's a healthy guy in the waiting room let's kill him and take his organs so that 10 other people here can live" kind of thing.
 
Snide said:
OK, that's a good point regarding this post. I too was quick to shift the goalposts because of the past discussions we've had here with Shane. IMO, Shane over-emphasizes the counter-"no effect on unemployment" argument.
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Really? Last MW thread was about two dozen pages of almost nothing but.
 
Even assuming this crackpot study has it's facts right, the only comment I have to the results is: so what?

How are they in any way relevant to anything at all?
 
Luke T. said:
Guess you have never heard of sweat shops.
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Guess you've never heard of "weasel words."

Guess you also don't remember me showing how Nike's so-called "sweatshop" in Thailand that everyone was making such a big deal about was resulting in many people for the first time being able to own cars. And yes, they were people who worked at Nike. Those poor, "exploited" people...

Do you believe that someone won't submit himself to an indecent wage because he knows that if he doesn't, someone else will take the job, and a few dollars is better than no dollars?
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So, better to take that job away so that he won't be making any money, then?

Do you believe that employers are ignorant of this and don't take advantage of it?
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I believe that supply and demand applies in the job market, too. This is a perfect example of it; after all, MW is nothing but a price support.
 
shanek said:
. Minimum Wage means eliminating these entry-level jobs for many people.
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Wouldnt the nature of entry level jobs (which you say people dont stay at long) mean that they would be the most plentiful jobs anyway.
 
burnvictim77 said:
Probably until inflation catches up.
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Maybe, but it would be helped along by the growing economy. Basically, what has to happen is for the equilibrium wage (due to either nominal or real increases) to reach the point of the MW. A MW set at or below equilibrium has no effect.
 
SezMe said:
I think it is intellectually dishonest to cite one particular study and declare your own preferred answer is the Truth, once again.
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This is just the latest in a long line of study after study after study showing the same thing.
 
Tmy said:
So if Wallymart needs 10 guysto run a shift, THey have 10 guys. If the min wage goes up, theyre not going to just have 9 guys on shift. They NEED 10.
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Unless the work output they produce is not worth MWx10.
 
burnvictim77 said:
No, they will quite likely only have 9 and attempt to get them to do the work of the former 10. Human 'labor units' are not so easy to calculate. And thus, socialist prices make very little sense to me and the market.
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Why wouldnt they just get the 9 to do the work of 10 even without the hike in wages?
 
Luke T. said:
How many teens who allegedly end up unemployed due to a minimum wage increase are dependent on their job to survive and not for the spending money?
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How many people on MW in toto who allegedly end up unemployed due to a minimum wage increase are dependent on their job to survive and not for the spending money?
 
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