OT: US President (US Dom Players only)

[Agema]

Originally Posted by NTJedi

Providing tax breaks to the rich won't bolster the economy or provide higher wages. Increasing minimum wage has not improved the lives of those working minimum wage as the rest of the market adjusts upwards as well... the $1 menu's from fast food restaurants have been disappearing as a result. Another bad side effect of increasing minimum wage is other businesses don't match the increase... thus if you're earning $6.25/HR and minimum wage is increased from $5.00 to $6.15 you're out of luck and closer to the poverty level.

There's just no way on earth that paying the very poor another 20% is bad for them. Yes, technically it shifts the median wage upwards and statistically takes more people into poverty. But if another family goes from just above the poverty line to just below it because the extremely poor got a pay raise, it makes pretty much no difference to their household finances.

The market cannot shift that far up either. To counteract a minimum wage increase from $5.00-6.15 dollars would take inflation of 20% suddenly occurring. Bear in mind the rest of the population towards the middle class don't see pay rises when minimum wage is increased, so although wage rises are inflationary, the overall inflation is a tiny fraction of the wage increase for the minimum wage.

Also, when you say other businesses don't match the increase, I don't think you're right by the requirements of basic economics. Companies pay more because they need to attract better staff. When minimum wage goes up, if they want to keep attracting those better non-minimum wage staff they have to raise their wages. This will send ripples outwards increasing wages.

[chrispedersen]

Originally Posted by Agema

There's just no way on earth that paying the very poor another 20% is bad for them. Yes, technically it shifts the median wage upwards and statistically takes more people into poverty. But if another family goes from just above the poverty line to just below it because the extremely poor got a pay raise, it makes pretty much no difference to their household finances.

The market cannot shift that far up either. To counteract a minimum wage increase from $5.00-6.15 dollars would take inflation of 20% suddenly occurring. Bear in mind the rest of the population towards the middle class don't see pay rises when minimum wage is increased, so although wage rises are inflationary, the overall inflation is a tiny fraction of the wage increase for the minimum wage.

Also, when you say other businesses don't match the increase, I don't think you're right by the requirements of basic economics. Companies pay more because they need to attract better staff. When minimum wage goes up, if they want to keep attracting those better non-minimum wage staff they have to raise their wages. This will send ripples outwards increasing wages.

It also causes unemployment, as businesses evaluate costs vs production. One computer > 10 low paid accountants.

[NTJedi]

Originally Posted by Agema

There's just no way on earth that paying the very poor another 20% is bad for them. Yes, technically it shifts the median wage upwards and statistically takes more people into poverty. But if another family goes from just above the poverty line to just below it because the extremely poor got a pay raise, it makes pretty much no difference to their household finances.

It's not bad for the very poor it provides the very poor a short term benefit, but it's bad for the working class just above them. When minimum wage increases the vast majority of those small businesses either cut staff and make the remaining staff work harder or raise the prices for food/services provided.
The family above the poverty line which is pushed closer to minimum wage DOES suffer because of the adjustment businesses must make. When I was a teenager I worked in the fast food restaurant and recognized the owner had no choice except to raise prices every time minimum wage increased. One example is our grocery stores with employees earning minimum wage (not the cashiers)... as minimum wage increases the grocery stores balance the increase by raising food prices. There's plenty of articles describing the long term effects of raising minimum wage.

Originally Posted by Agema

Also, when you say other businesses don't match the increase, I don't think you're right by the requirements of basic economics. Companies pay more because they need to attract better staff. When minimum wage goes up, if they want to keep attracting those better non-minimum wage staff they have to raise their wages. This will send ripples outwards increasing wages.

In the majority of cases these other businesses do not match the increase of minimum wage. I've never met anyone such as friend, relative, coworkers who reported receiving a raise because minimum wage increased... unless they were at minimum wage. Simply walk around and ask the employees at small businesses and you'll see. Also the more minimum wage increases the more companies will consider sending call center job overseas!

[lch]

Originally Posted by NTJedi

Bill Gates found a way to pay zero in taxes for 1999

Since I couldn't find any indication of this the first time I looked around, I did it again. It turns out that Microsoft paid zero federal taxes in 1999, although they had $12.3 billion U.S. income. That's because they found a loophole through international tax evasion.