Tumbleweed

The minimum wage is one of the hot button issues the Democrats will be pushing this year.By most indications it looks as though it will pass. What affect do you think it will have , if any, on our economy?

I don't think it will have much of an impact myself. There are already a few states that meet or exceed the Federal minimum wage, so the raise won't have a huge impact,IMO.



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Troianii

It doesn't make much of a difference really. Say, just for arguments sake, that the minimum wage is $10 and a guy working at McDonald's gets that hourly. A skilled laborer earns $100, working at say the shipyard. The minimum wage is raised to $15. Either this is trying to equalize the wealth by government intervention (not much different than redistribution of wealth), or the skilled laborer is going to want $150 an hour and when prices go up we're either in the same fix or worse.

What is raising the minimum wage really all about? Votes. Garsh, I hate politics. As soon as the federal government said that it had a right to expand it's own powers we've just gotten worse and worse.

FRYandBENDER

I was watching CSPAN on my lunch break where a House committee was arguing about the minimum wage increase. Economists are saying that we will see a 1.6 million drop in jobs. I'm thinking that the increase will get passed, the jobs will be lost, and Bush will be blamed for the bad economy/ loss of jobs.

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Tumbleweed

Here is a map that shows the states that already meet or exceed the minimum wage so 1.6 million jobs sounds a bit high to me.

In reality I'm not sure the mimimum wage increase was a big deal to start with.

DOL WHD: Minimum Wage Laws in the States

There are a lot of green states.

Brother Oz

The current British government introduced a minimum wage in 1997, and has steadily increased it. The current rate stands at over £5 for over 21s (about $9). We have had extremely low unemployment compared to the previous government, who were in power for 14 years. The average under this government has been about 4%, and been very stable, whereas the average under the previous one was more like 7%, with peaks of about 10%.

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Gumbercules

I'm certainly no expert on economics (in fact I'm a little embarressed about my economic ignorance, although I am trying to remedy this) but it seems to me that not letting the market set the price for a particular product (in this case workers) is a bad idea. I can only see where it will hurt small businesses, and by extension workers. A small business owner has a set amount of money set aside for the employment of workers and if he is forced to increase the amount of money that he pays to each worker then he is going to have to either fire someone or raise his prices in order to meet his bottom line and keep the business running. It seems likely to me that not only will many businesses fire some workers, many will also raise their prices and cause the cost of living to go up, therefore making the minimum wage a moot point. Forgetting all of that for a moment, who can raise a family on $7.25 an hour anyway. Thats about 15 grand a year before taxes.

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David

Increasing minimum wage should increase demand for locally produced
goods in the US. Giving tax cuts to the rich just gives them more money
to invest in the Shanghai stock market!

lordoftheworld

I fail to see your logic. This increase in the minimum wage will increase the demand for foregin goods, as they are going to be even cheaper now. This increase in the min. wage is definatley not a free market move.

FRYandBENDER

__________________
Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice on their altars. ... I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask no one to live for me, nor do I live for others. I covet no mans soul, nor is my soul theirs to covet.

Ayn Rand, Anthem.

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drgoodtrips

I don't think you'll see such massive layoffs, given the higher minimum wage in many states already. I just don't see why a federal minimum wage needs to exist in the first place.