Monday, 7 July 2008
The Price Of An Increased Minimum Wage
« Rev Louis Coleman Dies | Main | Socializing Health Care Is Bad Idea »Today the Courier Journal has a wonderful sob story about how difficult it is for teens to get jobs in today's market. I assume the point of the story is tell us how rotten the economy has become. The gloomier life is the more likely people will respond to Obama Mesiah's promise of hope and change.
I don't see it that way. I see the higher teen unemployment as the natural result of raising the minimum wage. Last year when the left railed at the inequity of a low minimum wage, they claimed that people couldn't make a living on the minimum wage. At the time, I and others pointed out that most of the people who make the minimum wage are teenagers. They would be the ones most effected by the new law as companies tried to get by with less labor.
Low and behold the laws of economics work. Now we are seeing a difficult time for teenagers trying to get jobs. I don't think it is mere coincidence that a rise in teen unemployment lines up perfectly with the increase in the minimum wage. Unfortunately, the article ignores the effect of raising the minimum wage on job availability. I guess that would hit to close to home for the useful idiot class. They would have to come face to face with the reality that their liberal policies are the root cause of higher teen unemployment.
I am sure there are other factors. I just believe the primary cause is the minimum wage increase.
While the economy is not booming, it is not shrinking either. We still haven't had a quarter of negative growth. So your arguments that the economy is in the toilet doesn't really hold water.
The more likely cause again is the increase in the cost of labor. Companies do not have an infinite supply of money and can only allocate so much for labor. Since the vast majority of those making minimum wage are teenagers, they will be disproportionally hit by the artificial wage increase.
We are seeing the results of this policy.
"I am sure there are other factors. I just believe the primary cause is the minimum wage increase."
While it's certainly your prerogative to believe what you like, it doesn't mean you're correct. There's really nothing in the CJ article that supports your gut feeling. I suppose you "believed" that I said the economy was in the toilet when in fact, I was saying that it isn't the rosy, pie in the sky, robust economy that the Bush Administration has been claiming for 7 years while most economist were warning otherwise. Your argument that the economy isn't shrinking not only doesn't hold water, it defies logic and shows a blind loyalty to the Bush administration.
Obviously, neither of us have anything scientifically sound to support our beliefs. Neither of us have offered researched statistics. It just stands to reason that with people being laid off, wages stagnant, people losing their homes, skyrocketing fuel cost, basic food and commodities up over 30% from the past 2 years, higher education becoming unattainable to most, more people without insurance, that perhaps the younger folks are being displaced by older people struggling to survive. Also, could it be that Walmart et al are struggling because of the lack of money people have to spend as a result of their perception of the economy and not the chump change the of the minimum increase? While we're at it, Walmart et al were already paying around $7 an hour and there were very few wage increases as a result of the hike. Accordingly, your grasp of a sucker punch towards the Democrats has no merit. Andy
Could there be a remote possibility that there are other factors than the minimum wage involved here? Perhaps there's a reality that many older folks are taking on more jobs in order to make ends meet in Bush's "robust economy". Also, could it be that business are doing their best to hold their own in Bush's "robust economy".