About minimum wage

[TheRealJoeFish]

There might be a slight increase, but it wouldn't be as much as the increase in wages.

Competition keeps costs down as well.

As far as I understand, this is essentially correct. For commodities that are plentiful (think milk, gas, etc.) the price is not driven by demand (which is constant and large) but by cost of attaining the commodity for resale (milking the cow or getting the fuel out of the ground or whatnot). Supply and demand only gets you so far when there is a large number of interchangeable suppliers of fungible resources.

Suppose you give everyone in town an extra $10,000 dollars. Will the cost of milk shoot up to $8 per gallon? Hell no.

[Aroura]

places with higher minimum wages do not directly have higher costs of living.

Look at Seattle and Portland. Both have higher than average min wage, and lower than average cost of living for large cities. That's one reason these cities, and both states that contain them, are the top destinations to move to in the entire US.

Umm, not that I disagree with you in general, but as far as cost of living goes, you'd find a better example than Portland. You priced rent up here lately?

My point is its better than in places like Huston, where min wage is much lower, but cost of living is higher.

At least according to statistics I was just looking at.

[Excited Penguin]

I've always wondered this. Why can't the government just print out money and give it to everyone?

Boo

[Jackalope]

Umm, not that I disagree with you in general, but as far as cost of living goes, you'd find a better example than Portland.  You priced rent up here lately?

My point is its better than in places like Huston, where min wage is much lower, but cost of living is higher.

At least according to statistics I was just looking at.

Hmm, I work for a Houston-based company, and everything I've seen on COL in Houston says it's lower (I had the option of moving there, fuck no), and a lot lower when it comes to housing.

I'm not aware of statistics that say otherwise, where are your numbers from?

(I wonder of those statistics are normalized to local prevailing wages?)

[Whateverist]

Sure, it'd increase the cost of living.  But let's not pretend it's a 1:1 increase.

Especially for the working poor serfs.

 
On the other hand not raising the minimum wage leaves many people in poverty.  Buying power for those people decreases as inflation goes up.  Their $7.25/hour buys less and less every year.

Yep. It isn't right and shouldn't be legal.

[pocaracas]

Can one of you smart people explain to me why raising the minimum wage wouldn't just increase the cost of living?

It's... complex.

Raising the minimum wage allows the lowest income people a sudden surge in buying power... That will lead to an increase in sales and, consequently, in prices, due to the famous "supply and demand" rule: Same supply, more demand => higher price. But this increase tends to take some time... months or more.
In parallel, the minimum wage should be increased (or decreased) yearly in accordance with inflation (or deflation).... which it isn't, is it?

Also, in order to pay your employees the increased salary and maintain your level of profit, you will want to increase prices... Some companies will increase beyond the required and profit more... some already have enough profits so they can absorb the increased expense (LOOOL, like this happens!!)

On the other hand, there are things which suffer no significant increase in cost to produce and so their prices remain largely the same. This then drives inflation slightly down, which makes investors stash their cash in funds indexed to the interest rates, instead of investing in goods for selling. This can lead to less supply, driving prices further up.... but this is a more long range effect.


Now, in reality, what influences the most on you "cost of living"? Is it the food you eat? the clothes you wear? your rent/mortgage? the movies?...
Rent/mortgages tend to be quite stable.... indexed to inflation... (except for places that are growing like crazy... Portland, anyone?)
Food prices fluctuate more with supply than with demand.
Clothing prices fluctuate with what?... where they're made? quality of the materials? Season? On Sale - Buy now!?
So.... which prices will change with an increased minimum wage? Local small businesses.... what else?

[Minimalist]

Because it is far more complex than the corporate criminals would have you believe.

http://www.businessforafairminimumwage.o...e-job-loss

In the 2015 report, Minimum Wage Policy and the Resulting Effect on Employment, the research institute Integrity Florida observes, "Economists cite several reasons why increases in the minimum wage, which raise employers’ cost, generally do not cost jobs. Increased pay adds money to workers’ pocketbooks and allows them to buy more goods and services, creating higher demand, which in turn requires hiring more workers. The higher wage may make it easier to attract applicants and results in less turnover of workers, lowering costs of employers." They report, "Our examination of employment statistics in states found no evidence of employment loss in states that have increased the minimum wage and more evidence that suggests employment increases faster when there is an increase in the minimum wage."

https://benjaminstudebaker.com/2015/07/2...inflation/

Misconceptions: Raising the Minimum Wage Does Not Automatically Lead to Inflation
by Benjamin Studebaker

In recent weeks, I have had the very same conversation with a number of my friends. Each time I’m told that they were participating in a discussion about the minimum wage when someone claimed that there was no point in raising wages because firms would just raise their prices to cover the increase. This is a very intuitive, appealing argument, but it’s deeply misleading and fallacious. Let me explain why.

If minimum wage hikes automatically resulted in price increases, we would expect to see the inflation rate rise whenever the minimum wage rises. This does not happen. Here’s the US federal minimum wage since 1938:

[vorlon13]

I've always wondered this. Why can't the government just print out money and give it to everyone?

Boo

That is precisely what the government is actually doing.

They are spending $2400000000 every day more than they are taking in.

And that's how you get a $20000000000 national debt that is going to be a total cluster abortion fuck to pay back without a rapidly growing economy when you're trying to do it.

[KUSA]

We need more higher paying jobs so less people will have to work minimum wage jobs.

This country needs more industry.

[mlmooney89]

I think the issue with most min wage arguments is the amount they want to raise it. $15 an hour is a bit much for across the board. The places that need it for higher COL could use it but that is entirely too much for smaller areas. I used to pay all my bills living in a town of 30,000 people making what I make now with my main job. Here in Austin I need a second job to make up the difference. My old town would be wiped out with that kind of min wage. Because I read that others are talking about milk as an example but really if a small store has to pay people twice as much they have to comp that somehow so yes the milk could go up. Then there are things like where you are. Milk in Hawaii is crazy because it has to be brought in and has nothing to do with min wage.