There goes Florida's economy

The DNC doesn't do economics well. Only stupid fools believe that price inflation won't go up faster than wages.

In 1968, minimum wage was $1.68 and that money could purchase $9.25 in "value".

So, sure. Make minimum wage $1000 per hour, or $10,000. See how those consumer price adjustments work out.

...or maybe stop electing big government candidates who keep taxing more out of earnings.

 

The first wave of cuts will be the deepest, any biz owner with a brain will begin making preparations for a 20% increase in labor costs on their least valuable employees now, so when the rubber hits the road they are ready to make cuts. There will always be a percentage of people that are only worth min wage, and as that min number increases its inevitable that employers will try eliminate the position if its possible to do so or pass the additional costs along if its not, a big jump in labor costs provides massive incentives to make adjustments.

 

McDonald's is an example of a corporation which prepared ahead of time. Human-less order kiosks will replace the need for a cashier. Most places already used Covid to push online orders which also doesn't require a human. Robotics can easily replace burger flippers and stock shelves. Amazon got federal approval a few months ago to deliver packages by drone, which will eliminate the need for delivery drivers.

But sure, raise minimum wage to hasten the switch. People will cheer in the streets for about 3-6 months, after which they find themselves sitting at home unemployed.

 

This question will remain unanswered simply because they can not answer it

The number is arbitrary. Not only do they not understand the immediate consequences, but they do not understand the eventual inflationary impact that it has on the general economy.

More than that even, they don't understand the impact of interventionaliam by government upon the economy. From labor cost to money supply to spending, the net result is always negative.

 

I agree in general principal.

Big biz has already begun to make strides and were planning on these technology improvements anyway, I was concerned about employees of smaller to mid sized business as well, because technology isn't going to work its way down to them in the immediate future. It just depends on the particular situation.

Even without wage increases technology plays a massive role, my office is a good example, we had one staffer that basically answered the phones and did the filing along with some transcription for the owner that wasn't computer literate. Technology offered us the opportunity to receive most of our documents electronically, so over the course of a year or so we had a 75% reduction in paper, the owner also started phasing out, so dictation was minimal, and in the end we just eliminated the position and took turns answering the phone +20K to bottom line for the business. A year later the owner is 90% phased out so I eliminated a 2nd position because our quotes and servicing processes became more simplified, faster, easier. We are doing more business with less than half the labor now than 5 years ago. Technology allowed us to go from a labor intensive office to what we are today even without financial incentives, now that there are incentives that process will accelerate faster than it did before.

 

So, we shouldn't complain to much about whatever minimum wage they want to set, because most low-skilled workers will be unemployed soon anyway. People will have to have higher-level skills than burger flipper or phone answer-er to get a paycheck.

 

Then explain it to me.

Why is $15 an hour moderate but $40 an hour is not?

 

Most liberal arguments boil down to "because I said so".

 

Yes, generally speaking, I can only speak as a business owner, and from general reading (yang's book addressed some of this for example) but the 'plans' are already there to reduce labor costs, this will just accelerate it.

Hell, I'm the business owner now and technically I'm the phone answer-er at my office, for two reasons.
1) I'm excellent at it since I know my job and customers very well
2) I don't want to reduce my income by 30K just to relieve myself of the responsibility.
2a) The phones ring less because technology has allowed more customer self service.

 

Like I said, can't comprehend moderation.

 

Then help me comprehend it. Explain why one is moderate but the other is not.

 

If you can't understand it I don't know how to explain it.

 

Yes, that is rather obvious.

 

You can't explain why $15 dollars an hour is "moderate" but $40 isn't?

 

I you don't know how to explain it, then you do not understand it very well.

 

You apparently can't understand it.

 

Whenever someone says why not make it this an hour, I want to say why not make $5 an hour??? Do you know what I'm saying??

 

And you can't explain it. However, it is simple. The democrats latched onto $15 and you somehow believe that is the only number that works.

 

Neither do you, apparently.

 

No, not really. There should be no minimum wage. It does far more harm than good. And it hurts the people it is intended to help the most.

 

No it does more good than harm. Maybe I should say why not $2 an hour??? Are you getting it yet?

 

Let me spell it out for you: Unpaid Interns with no career growth/

 

There is a basic problem with a minimum wage. It does not fit all situations. A minimum wage in Mississippi would have to be twice that in San Francisco.

Generally, it should be left to the employers. Let the market decide. Alternatively, leave it up to the states. If a business has to pay $20 an hour to attract employees then let them pay $20 per hour. If the area requires $10 an hour to find employees and they cannot pay $10 dollars an hour then they will go out of business. However, they should not be forced out of business when they cannot pay more and there are people willing to work for less.

 

I couldn't disagree with you more. Businesses who can't afford to pay more for employees are exactly why the welfare state is so big. Just pass on that check to the tax payers, like always.

 

While I would agree with states setting the minimum wage, even individual counties, I don't think the business should be trusted to set minimum wage.