tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26981669.post7810759791051033919..comments2024-03-23T10:55:30.196-05:00Comments on Cold Fusion Guy: On raising the federal minimum wageJim Peethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07649414726939918803noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26981669.post-4092157549573849122013-02-15T20:46:03.369-06:002013-02-15T20:46:03.369-06:00WSJ: The Minority Youth Unemployment Act - A highe...WSJ: <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323478004578302510280314712.html" rel="nofollow">The Minority Youth Unemployment Act - A higher minimum wage will hurt Obama's most loyal supporters.</a>:<br /><br /><i>In his State of the Union address, Mr. Obama proposed an increase to $9 an hour by 2015 from $7.25, and then indexing the minimum to inflation. "Employers may get a more stable workforce due to reduced turnover and increased productivity," the White House says. No doubt employers are slamming their foreheads wondering why they didn't think of that.<br /><br />And don't worry about lost jobs. "A range of economic studies," a White House memo assures, "show that modestly raising the minimum wage increases earnings and reduces poverty without measurably reducing employment." Note the shifty adverbs, "modestly" and "measurably," which can paper over a lot of economic damage.<br />In the real world, setting a floor under the price of labor creates winners and losers. Some workers will get a $1.75 raise. Great. But others—typically the least educated and skilled—will be priced out of the job market and their pay won't rise to $9. It will be zero.<br /><br />University of California at Irvine economist David Neumark has looked at more than 100 major academic studies on the minimum wage, and he says the White House claim of de minimis job losses "grossly misstates the weight of the evidence." About 85% of the studies "find a negative employment effect on low-skilled workers."</i>Jim Peethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07649414726939918803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26981669.post-75982547259475168472013-02-15T16:13:27.763-06:002013-02-15T16:13:27.763-06:00This basically represents my view: Abolish the Min...This basically represents my view: <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/abolish-minimum-wage-says-peter-schiff-172858062.html" rel="nofollow">Abolish the Minimum Wage! Says Peter Schiff</a><br /><br /><i>Characterizing the proposal as the "stupidest" of the President's ideas, Schiff says a hike in the minimum wage would have exactly the opposite of the intended effect. "It's not going to lift the wages of workers," Schiff says in the attached video. "What it's going to do is diminish employment opportunities."<br />Companies paying minimum wage aren't necessarily rapacious. Being a cashier at Wal-Mart (WMT) or McDonalds (MCD) was never supposed to be considered a lifelong full-time job. However that makes one feel, is beside the point. It's capitalism. A higher minimum wage means lower margins. When you raise hiring costs you reduce the number of jobs available. Period.<br />"What we really should do is completely abolish the minimum wage, that would make a lot of sense," says Schiff, using Singapore as an example of a strong economy with no minimum wage. "We didn't have a minimum wage for most of American history. It's something that started in the 20th Century. It was a bad idea and we ought to admit that it was a bad idea and get rid of it completely."<br />Beyond the standard political rhetoric, the President's $9 proposal is flawed at its heart. Obama is right that it's a travesty for Americans working full-time to live in poverty. If the solution is a higher minimum wage, Obama isn't going nearly far enough at $9 an hour.</i>Jim Peethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07649414726939918803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26981669.post-47967378292934497232013-02-13T21:20:20.361-06:002013-02-13T21:20:20.361-06:00Republicans Oppose a Minimum Wage Increase. Do Eco...<a href="http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/politics-and-regulation/articles/Republicans-Oppose-a-Minimum-Wage-Increas/2/13/2013/id/48107" rel="nofollow">Republicans Oppose a Minimum Wage Increase. Do Economists Agree?</a>Jim Peethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07649414726939918803noreply@blogger.com