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High minimum wage doesnt work after all


ayin jade

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There is no resolve that will work if it becomes a blanket wage across this nation.  It costs a lot more to live in the cities than in the country, where the city wages are more than the country wages.  This is geographical fiscal common sense.  Some states don't have a minimum wage, others do.  http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

 

As for those who have a degree and cannot find a job, the question that comes to mind is what was their major?  If you majored in photography and can't find a job, realize before making this your major that there are not many jobs in that category.  Same with fine arts and liberal arts, both pretty generic majors most people who "have no idea what they want to do for work" get.  It is their responsibility to think through a process instead of sliding through and then complain.

 

If people took the time to think through what a blanket minimal wage does, they will discover that this is a spiral that never stops.  Increase minimum wage, profit margins decrease until the products price raise.  Cost of living increases so minimum wage needs to increase again.  The law makers of this nation are not responsible to make life easier by increasing  wages, it is up to each of us to do our best to land those better jobs.  It has become the norm to rely on everyone else to fulfill our responsibilities, making it their problem and not ours.  What a cop out.. 

 

I agree.  It  seems to me that there should be a formula to calculate a percentage, and a way to have it keep pace with the cost of living.  However, this presents a conundrum as any change in wages affects the cost of living as this is passed back to the consumer.

 

As far as what one's major was and how it affects unemployment, this might be surprising    -   if you want no unemployment, become an astronomer or archaeologist,   or work in genetics, 

 

 

http://www.studentsreview.com/unemployment_by_major.php3

 

From how you interpret this dataset and coming up with the resulting conclusion, it looks like you do not know how to analyze data critically and hence susceptible to misleading statistic and propaganda (like saying how increase minimum wage actually make a difference).

https://mises.org/library/yes-minimum-wages-still-increase-unemployment 

 

How can you come up with such misleading conclusion from this survey. The results from the survey is statistically insignificant in the majors you said have no unemployment. Only around 20 people responded to the survey of their employment status in astronomy, archeology and genetics. As with any voluntary survey, there is a high degree of selection bias, where only certain groups of people would respond. For example, only people who are employed may respond leading to false representation of the whole population. This survey is neither random nor representative of the market at large, it may at best represent how alumni at this particular school did, even then the sample size is way too small given the population it is trying to represent.

 

To truly have no unemployment is to element minimum wage laws and have a sound money (eliminate Federal Reserve fiat currency), so everyone can get hired at their market rates. You want to increase unemployment?Increasing the minimum wage would get you there.

 

I disagree that there should be minimum wage that adjust to cost of living. This is just crying for more government intervention and abuses. The real question people should be asking is what caused the cost of living to increase, the main culprit is the government and its monetary policy. It is nature of economy on fiat currency to increase cost of living at a faster rate than wages would grow. The government's rapid monetary expansion erodes everyone's spending power causing yesterday's minimum wage to be inadequate today. The government plays dirty, instead of reflecting how it is damaging people's standard of living, it turns around and demonize the business people, saying how they are not paying enough to keep up with standard of living.

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There is no resolve that will work if it becomes a blanket wage across this nation.  It costs a lot more to live in the cities than in the country, where the city wages are more than the country wages.  This is geographical fiscal common sense.  Some states don't have a minimum wage, others do.  http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

 

As for those who have a degree and cannot find a job, the question that comes to mind is what was their major?  If you majored in photography and can't find a job, realize before making this your major that there are not many jobs in that category.  Same with fine arts and liberal arts, both pretty generic majors most people who "have no idea what they want to do for work" get.  It is their responsibility to think through a process instead of sliding through and then complain.

 

If people took the time to think through what a blanket minimal wage does, they will discover that this is a spiral that never stops.  Increase minimum wage, profit margins decrease until the products price raise.  Cost of living increases so minimum wage needs to increase again.  The law makers of this nation are not responsible to make life easier by increasing  wages, it is up to each of us to do our best to land those better jobs.  It has become the norm to rely on everyone else to fulfill our responsibilities, making it their problem and not ours.  What a cop out.. 

 

I agree.  It  seems to me that there should be a formula to calculate a percentage, and a way to have it keep pace with the cost of living.  However, this presents a conundrum as any change in wages affects the cost of living as this is passed back to the consumer.

 

As far as what one's major was and how it affects unemployment, this might be surprising    -   if you want no unemployment, become an astronomer or archaeologist,   or work in genetics, 

 

 

http://www.studentsreview.com/unemployment_by_major.php3

 

From how you interpret this dataset and coming up with the resulting conclusion, it looks like you do not know how to analyze data critically and hence susceptible to misleading statistic and propaganda (like saying how increase minimum wage actually make a difference).

https://mises.org/library/yes-minimum-wages-still-increase-unemployment 

 

How can you come up with such misleading conclusion from this survey. The results from the survey is statistically insignificant in the majors you said have no unemployment. Only around 20 people responded to the survey of their employment status in astronomy, archeology and genetics. As with any voluntary survey, there is a high degree of selection bias, where only certain groups of people would respond. For example, only people who are employed may respond leading to false representation of the whole population. This survey is neither random nor representative of the market at large, it may at best represent how alumni at this particular school did, even then the sample size is way too small given the population it is trying to represent.

 

To truly have no unemployment is to element minimum wage laws and have a sound money (eliminate Federal Reserve fiat currency), so everyone can get hired at their market rates. You want to increase unemployment?Increasing the minimum wage would get you there.

 

I disagree that there should be minimum wage that adjust to cost of living. This is just crying for more government intervention and abuses. The real question people should be asking is what caused the cost of living to increase, the main culprit is the government and its monetary policy. It is nature of economy on fiat currency to increase cost of living at a faster rate than wages would grow. The government's rapid monetary expansion erodes everyone's spending power causing yesterday's minimum wage to be inadequate today. The government plays dirty, instead of reflecting how it is damaging people's standard of living, it turns around and demonize the business people, saying how they are not paying enough to keep up with standard of living.

 

 

 

 

udx,  I didn't interpret the data set, I simply shared what some of the reported results were.  It is simply the results of those they received responses from.

 

Lots of room for error.

 

The point of it all is that things are not so black and white as some would make things appear here.

 

 

The problem with all of this with the proposed minimum wage hike is that it will probably cause more problems than it solves.    

 

I think everyone is looking at the wrong problem here to begin with.

 

Everyone is worried about what raising the minimum wage will do.

 

 

Why is no one worried about our our of control debt, and the fact that there is virtually nothing to back it up?

 

 

The feds have responded by continuing to lower interest rates to keep the economy from crashing around our heads  - we are near the bottom.   What happens when the interest rates can't be lowered anymore?

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There is no resolve that will work if it becomes a blanket wage across this nation.  It costs a lot more to live in the cities than in the country, where the city wages are more than the country wages.  This is geographical fiscal common sense.  Some states don't have a minimum wage, others do.  http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

 

As for those who have a degree and cannot find a job, the question that comes to mind is what was their major?  If you majored in photography and can't find a job, realize before making this your major that there are not many jobs in that category.  Same with fine arts and liberal arts, both pretty generic majors most people who "have no idea what they want to do for work" get.  It is their responsibility to think through a process instead of sliding through and then complain.

 

If people took the time to think through what a blanket minimal wage does, they will discover that this is a spiral that never stops.  Increase minimum wage, profit margins decrease until the products price raise.  Cost of living increases so minimum wage needs to increase again.  The law makers of this nation are not responsible to make life easier by increasing  wages, it is up to each of us to do our best to land those better jobs.  It has become the norm to rely on everyone else to fulfill our responsibilities, making it their problem and not ours.  What a cop out.. 

 

I agree.  It  seems to me that there should be a formula to calculate a percentage, and a way to have it keep pace with the cost of living.  However, this presents a conundrum as any change in wages affects the cost of living as this is passed back to the consumer.

 

As far as what one's major was and how it affects unemployment, this might be surprising    -   if you want no unemployment, become an astronomer or archaeologist,   or work in genetics, 

 

 

http://www.studentsreview.com/unemployment_by_major.php3

 

From how you interpret this dataset and coming up with the resulting conclusion, it looks like you do not know how to analyze data critically and hence susceptible to misleading statistic and propaganda (like saying how increase minimum wage actually make a difference).

https://mises.org/library/yes-minimum-wages-still-increase-unemployment 

 

How can you come up with such misleading conclusion from this survey. The results from the survey is statistically insignificant in the majors you said have no unemployment. Only around 20 people responded to the survey of their employment status in astronomy, archeology and genetics. As with any voluntary survey, there is a high degree of selection bias, where only certain groups of people would respond. For example, only people who are employed may respond leading to false representation of the whole population. This survey is neither random nor representative of the market at large, it may at best represent how alumni at this particular school did, even then the sample size is way too small given the population it is trying to represent.

 

To truly have no unemployment is to element minimum wage laws and have a sound money (eliminate Federal Reserve fiat currency), so everyone can get hired at their market rates. You want to increase unemployment?Increasing the minimum wage would get you there.

 

I disagree that there should be minimum wage that adjust to cost of living. This is just crying for more government intervention and abuses. The real question people should be asking is what caused the cost of living to increase, the main culprit is the government and its monetary policy. It is nature of economy on fiat currency to increase cost of living at a faster rate than wages would grow. The government's rapid monetary expansion erodes everyone's spending power causing yesterday's minimum wage to be inadequate today. The government plays dirty, instead of reflecting how it is damaging people's standard of living, it turns around and demonize the business people, saying how they are not paying enough to keep up with standard of living.

 

 

 

 

udx,  I didn't interpret the data set, I simply shared what some of the reported results were.  It is simply the results of those they received responses from.

 

Lots of room for error.

 

The point of it all is that things are not so black and white as some would make things appear here.

 

 

The problem with all of this with the proposed minimum wage hike is that it will probably cause more problems than it solves.    

 

I think everyone is looking at the wrong problem here to begin with.

 

Everyone is worried about what raising the minimum wage will do.

 

 

Why is no one worried about our our of control debt, and the fact that there is virtually nothing to back it up?

 

 

The feds have responded by continuing to lower interest rates to keep the economy from crashing around our heads  - we are near the bottom.   What happens when the interest rates can't be lowered anymore?

 

You did interpret the data, when you said if we want no unemployment people should go into genetics, astronomy and archeology because of the survey results as if the results meant anything.

 

Debt could not be controlled as long as the government as the power to inflate currency. You are not exactly right regarding there is nothing to back the debt up. The thing that is backing US currency up right now is oil, US military and natural resources in America (land), and the future labor of US tax payers.

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There is no resolve that will work if it becomes a blanket wage across this nation.  It costs a lot more to live in the cities than in the country, where the city wages are more than the country wages.  This is geographical fiscal common sense.  Some states don't have a minimum wage, others do.  http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

 

As for those who have a degree and cannot find a job, the question that comes to mind is what was their major?  If you majored in photography and can't find a job, realize before making this your major that there are not many jobs in that category.  Same with fine arts and liberal arts, both pretty generic majors most people who "have no idea what they want to do for work" get.  It is their responsibility to think through a process instead of sliding through and then complain.

 

If people took the time to think through what a blanket minimal wage does, they will discover that this is a spiral that never stops.  Increase minimum wage, profit margins decrease until the products price raise.  Cost of living increases so minimum wage needs to increase again.  The law makers of this nation are not responsible to make life easier by increasing  wages, it is up to each of us to do our best to land those better jobs.  It has become the norm to rely on everyone else to fulfill our responsibilities, making it their problem and not ours.  What a cop out.. 

 

I agree.  It  seems to me that there should be a formula to calculate a percentage, and a way to have it keep pace with the cost of living.  However, this presents a conundrum as any change in wages affects the cost of living as this is passed back to the consumer.

 

As far as what one's major was and how it affects unemployment, this might be surprising    -   if you want no unemployment, become an astronomer or archaeologist,   or work in genetics, 

 

 

http://www.studentsreview.com/unemployment_by_major.php3

 

From how you interpret this dataset and coming up with the resulting conclusion, it looks like you do not know how to analyze data critically and hence susceptible to misleading statistic and propaganda (like saying how increase minimum wage actually make a difference).

https://mises.org/library/yes-minimum-wages-still-increase-unemployment 

 

How can you come up with such misleading conclusion from this survey. The results from the survey is statistically insignificant in the majors you said have no unemployment. Only around 20 people responded to the survey of their employment status in astronomy, archeology and genetics. As with any voluntary survey, there is a high degree of selection bias, where only certain groups of people would respond. For example, only people who are employed may respond leading to false representation of the whole population. This survey is neither random nor representative of the market at large, it may at best represent how alumni at this particular school did, even then the sample size is way too small given the population it is trying to represent.

 

To truly have no unemployment is to element minimum wage laws and have a sound money (eliminate Federal Reserve fiat currency), so everyone can get hired at their market rates. You want to increase unemployment?Increasing the minimum wage would get you there.

 

I disagree that there should be minimum wage that adjust to cost of living. This is just crying for more government intervention and abuses. The real question people should be asking is what caused the cost of living to increase, the main culprit is the government and its monetary policy. It is nature of economy on fiat currency to increase cost of living at a faster rate than wages would grow. The government's rapid monetary expansion erodes everyone's spending power causing yesterday's minimum wage to be inadequate today. The government plays dirty, instead of reflecting how it is damaging people's standard of living, it turns around and demonize the business people, saying how they are not paying enough to keep up with standard of living.

 

 

 

 

udx,  I didn't interpret the data set, I simply shared what some of the reported results were.  It is simply the results of those they received responses from.

 

Lots of room for error.

 

The point of it all is that things are not so black and white as some would make things appear here.

 

 

The problem with all of this with the proposed minimum wage hike is that it will probably cause more problems than it solves.    

 

I think everyone is looking at the wrong problem here to begin with.

 

Everyone is worried about what raising the minimum wage will do.

 

 

Why is no one worried about our our of control debt, and the fact that there is virtually nothing to back it up?

 

 

The feds have responded by continuing to lower interest rates to keep the economy from crashing around our heads  - we are near the bottom.   What happens when the interest rates can't be lowered anymore?

 

You did interpret the data, when you said if we want no unemployment people should go into genetics, astronomy and archeology because of the survey results as if the results meant anything.

 

Debt could not be controlled as long as the government as the power to inflate currency. You are not exactly right regarding there is nothing to back the debt up. The thing that is backing US currency up right now is oil, US military and natural resources in America (land), and the future labor of US tax payers.

 

 

Umm    that's not what interpreting the data means.  Interpreting the data requires you use the raw data.

 

 I don't have access to the raw data.

 

This is silly to argue about imho.

 

 

 

And you have completely missed my point about what's backing up, or not backing up the debt.

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There is no resolve that will work if it becomes a blanket wage across this nation.  It costs a lot more to live in the cities than in the country, where the city wages are more than the country wages.  This is geographical fiscal common sense.  Some states don't have a minimum wage, others do.  http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

 

As for those who have a degree and cannot find a job, the question that comes to mind is what was their major?  If you majored in photography and can't find a job, realize before making this your major that there are not many jobs in that category.  Same with fine arts and liberal arts, both pretty generic majors most people who "have no idea what they want to do for work" get.  It is their responsibility to think through a process instead of sliding through and then complain.

 

If people took the time to think through what a blanket minimal wage does, they will discover that this is a spiral that never stops.  Increase minimum wage, profit margins decrease until the products price raise.  Cost of living increases so minimum wage needs to increase again.  The law makers of this nation are not responsible to make life easier by increasing  wages, it is up to each of us to do our best to land those better jobs.  It has become the norm to rely on everyone else to fulfill our responsibilities, making it their problem and not ours.  What a cop out.. 

 

I agree.  It  seems to me that there should be a formula to calculate a percentage, and a way to have it keep pace with the cost of living.  However, this presents a conundrum as any change in wages affects the cost of living as this is passed back to the consumer.

 

As far as what one's major was and how it affects unemployment, this might be surprising    -   if you want no unemployment, become an astronomer or archaeologist,   or work in genetics, 

 

 

http://www.studentsreview.com/unemployment_by_major.php3

 

From how you interpret this dataset and coming up with the resulting conclusion, it looks like you do not know how to analyze data critically and hence susceptible to misleading statistic and propaganda (like saying how increase minimum wage actually make a difference).

https://mises.org/library/yes-minimum-wages-still-increase-unemployment 

 

How can you come up with such misleading conclusion from this survey. The results from the survey is statistically insignificant in the majors you said have no unemployment. Only around 20 people responded to the survey of their employment status in astronomy, archeology and genetics. As with any voluntary survey, there is a high degree of selection bias, where only certain groups of people would respond. For example, only people who are employed may respond leading to false representation of the whole population. This survey is neither random nor representative of the market at large, it may at best represent how alumni at this particular school did, even then the sample size is way too small given the population it is trying to represent.

 

To truly have no unemployment is to element minimum wage laws and have a sound money (eliminate Federal Reserve fiat currency), so everyone can get hired at their market rates. You want to increase unemployment?Increasing the minimum wage would get you there.

 

I disagree that there should be minimum wage that adjust to cost of living. This is just crying for more government intervention and abuses. The real question people should be asking is what caused the cost of living to increase, the main culprit is the government and its monetary policy. It is nature of economy on fiat currency to increase cost of living at a faster rate than wages would grow. The government's rapid monetary expansion erodes everyone's spending power causing yesterday's minimum wage to be inadequate today. The government plays dirty, instead of reflecting how it is damaging people's standard of living, it turns around and demonize the business people, saying how they are not paying enough to keep up with standard of living.

 

 

 

 

udx,  I didn't interpret the data set, I simply shared what some of the reported results were.  It is simply the results of those they received responses from.

 

Lots of room for error.

 

The point of it all is that things are not so black and white as some would make things appear here.

 

 

The problem with all of this with the proposed minimum wage hike is that it will probably cause more problems than it solves.    

 

I think everyone is looking at the wrong problem here to begin with.

 

Everyone is worried about what raising the minimum wage will do.

 

 

Why is no one worried about our our of control debt, and the fact that there is virtually nothing to back it up?

 

 

The feds have responded by continuing to lower interest rates to keep the economy from crashing around our heads  - we are near the bottom.   What happens when the interest rates can't be lowered anymore?

 

You did interpret the data, when you said if we want no unemployment people should go into genetics, astronomy and archeology because of the survey results as if the results meant anything.

 

Debt could not be controlled as long as the government as the power to inflate currency. You are not exactly right regarding there is nothing to back the debt up. The thing that is backing US currency up right now is oil, US military and natural resources in America (land), and the future labor of US tax payers.

 

 

Umm    that's not what interpreting the data means.  Interpreting the data requires you use the raw data.

 

 I don't have access to the raw data.

 

This is silly to argue about imho.

 

 

 

And you have completely missed my point about what's backing up, or not backing up the debt.

 

That is not true. You don' not need to use raw data to interpret data. We are interpreting data all the time when you reach a conclusion from summary statistic people come up with. We are taught to interpret data all the time since grade school from graphs and charts, those are not raw data, but they could still be use to make valuable judgements or business decisions. Do you actually know what raw data means?

 

Do you have your own definition of 'interpreting the data' like you have on 'backing up debt'?

 

Definition of interpreting data means finding meaning and patterns or trends to reach a conclusion or result which is what you have done. There are whole sections on standardize examines (GRE, ACT) where you 'interpret' data base on summary statistics presented.

Regardless what your definition of interpretation is, you made a judgement call on a statistically insignificant data. 

You see that there is 0% unemployment on the fields of study you mentioned without considering the sample size of the said fields and reach an conclusion that people should go into that field because everyone who go into that field would be employed by generalizing that 0% unemployment is representative of general population of people in that field.

 

Cleaning up data is not for the faint of heart, it is very hard to interpret raw data you must clean it up. I do data analysis, and nobody hope to do any interpretation on raw data until it tidy up and converted into something more intuitive, there is a whole branch of data analysis that deal with that (exploratory data analysis).

 

What is your point about debt then?

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Seattle has raised the minimum wage to $15. per hour!!!  Small business are shutting their doors and entrepreneurs are shutting down.  Should this spread to eastern WA where wages and cost of living are much lower, much of the east side will be bankrupt.  Dishwashers have been calling for a "living wage" for 20 years.  This is ridiculous.  Supply and demand should set wages as well as job performance.  Those who are lazy should not be getting as much as those who are diligent and productive.

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Seattle has raised the minimum wage to $15. per hour!!!  Small business are shutting their doors and entrepreneurs are shutting down.  Should this spread to eastern WA where wages and cost of living are much lower, much of the east side will be bankrupt.  Dishwashers have been calling for a "living wage" for 20 years.  This is ridiculous.  Supply and demand should set wages as well as job performance.  Those who are lazy should not be getting as much as those who are diligent and productive.

 

 

This actually happened?    Sigh . . so is Portland next?   Portland is much more liberal than Seattle I think.

 

I have never agreed with this idea.  I just don't know what the solution is.

 

 

Seems to me that more people may be hired as private contractors than employees now.   How far is this going to push up the cost of living?   I guess the great experiment has begun.

 

Edit -  this was an article from March -   I wasn't following the wage change or the law up in Seattle.    Is there anything more recent?

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This actually happened?    Sigh . . so is Portland next?   Portland is much more liberal than Seattle I think.

 

I have never agreed with this idea.  I just don't know what the solution is.

 

 

Seems to me that more people may be hired as private contractors than employees now.   How far is this going to push up the cost of living?   I guess the great experiment has begun.

 

Edit -  this was an article from March -   I wasn't following the wage change or the law up in Seattle.    Is there anything more recent?

 

 

Yes. I posted an article originally here that specifically talked about the effects of this law. And it was that instead of helping raise wages for people, all it was doing was giving them the same amount of pay but with more time off, by their choice. They dont want to give up certain govt benefits so they ask to have reduced hours. 

 

Here are more, and they are recent:

 

“If they cut down their hours to stay on those subsidies because the $15 per hour minimum wage didn’t actually help get them out of poverty, all you’ve done is put a burden on the business and given false hope to a lot of people,” said Jason Rantz, host of the Jason Rantz show on 97.3 KIRO-FM.
 
The twist is just one apparent side effect of the controversial -- yet trendsetting -- minimum wage law in Seattle, which is being copied in several other cities despite concerns over prices rising and businesses struggling to keep up.
 
The notion that employees are intentionally working less to preserve their welfare has been a hot topic on talk radio. While the claims are difficult to track, state stats indeed suggest few are moving off welfare programs under the new wage.
 
Despite a booming economy throughout western Washington, the state’s welfare caseload has dropped very little since the higher wage phase began in Seattle in April. In March 130,851 people were enrolled in the Basic Food program. In April, the caseload dropped to 130,376.
 
At the same time, prices appear to be going up on just about everything.
 
Some restaurants have tacked on a 15 percent surcharge to cover the higher wages. And some managers are no longer encouraging customers to tip, leading to a redistribution of income. Workers in the back of the kitchen, such as dishwashers and cooks, are getting paid more, but servers who rely on tips are seeing a pay cut.
 
Some long-time Seattle restaurants have closed altogether, though none of the owners publicly blamed the minimum wage law.
 
“It’s what happens when the government imposes a restriction on the labor market that normally wouldn’t be there, and marginal businesses get hit the hardest, and usually those are small, neighborhood businesses,” said Paul Guppy, of the Washington Policy Center.
 

 

 

 
Shah-Burnham said instead of designating her store of 10 employees as a small business, the city classified Z Pizza as a “large employer” due to its more than 500 employees at many locations nationwide.
 
As a large employer, Shah-Burnham would have had to pay a minimum of $15 an hour starting January 1, 2017 instead of a longer phase-in.
 
“To have a 58 percent increase across the board on wage in two years, I wasn’t capable of doing that,” she said.
 
The space of more than 1,700 square feet cost her more than $7,000 in rent each month. Shah-Burnham said 33 percent of her budget went toward labor costs, and raising the wages that fast would have been unsustainable.
 
She closed the shop after July 4.
 
Now the space will become Ian’s Pizza, which currently has four stores in Wisconsin and one in Colorado.
 
Because they have fewer than 500 employees at these stores, Ian’s Pizza will be on a different schedule.
 
For small employers, they must pay $15 an hour by 2021. For small employers who pay health benefits, they must pay $15 an hour by 2019, which includes a minimum of $12 in cash and a minimum of $3 in benefits.
 
That means Ian’s Pizza will have several more years to reach $15 an hour.
 

 

 

 
The Los Angeles city council will vote this week on exempting collectively bargained wages from its new $15 an hour minimum wage law.
 
That’s correct – if unions get their way, only unionized employers will be able pay their employees less than $15 an hour.
 
 

 

 

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"High minimum wage doesnt work after all" 

Interesting title! I find it odd though in the sense that I am not aware that the minimum wage would be expected to "work". Last I knew, overwhelmingly economists opine that minimum wage laws, tend to cause businesses to fold, raise prices of goods and services, and generally hurt the people in the low income brackets the most.

Here in my state (California) it appears that our governor and certain liberals in our legislative positions, have conspired to increase our minimum wage to $15 an hour, over twice the current federal minimum wage. Although I do not know the exact details of the time schedule to accomplish this change (by 2022 I think), and I think the change still requires some legislative approvals to be come official law, it is clear that some in my state have a plan to put businesses out of business, increase unemployment, drive people into welfare, increase prices (and the cost of living), etc, it is not all negative.

The already high cost of doing business in California, due to already high minimum wages, draconian environmental requirements, high insurance cost, an high taxes, pretty much assure that not only will some businesses close there doors, some, will move to other states that are less insane. So, on the upside, will California might lose jobs and businesses, some of those may move to other states, which could provide jobs for non-Californians. Of course, that also means that some jobs will leave the country altogether, which could be good for people in other countries. 

How  it might affect illegal immigration might be interesting. On the one hand, higher minimum wages might sound attractive, those who would flee countries for economic opportunity here, might find mixed effects here. I think businesses are not likely going to want to hire illegal aliens at high wages, so, that might increase the underground economy here in California. That might mean less jobs for native Californians certainly, but the unaffordabilty of native workers, could increase demand for workers who sill work off the books. That typically means though, an increase in demand for government provided services (the welfare state) so the fewer legitimately working people here, will get to pay higher taxes to pay for the increase in expenses due to a higher number of people living in poverty. Maybe this will also increase illegal immigration to cheaper areas like neighboring Arizona because of some increase of low skill jobs from businesses that left California to survive elsewhere.

I have not idea what effects this will have, but history is replete with examples of harm done by minimum wage laws, most of that harm focusing on those people that minimum wages laws are intended to help. I guess in time, we will see, but I am not optimistic. 

The following chart is only from surveys, but if true, it would not be helpful, our state unemployment is already too high:

hankeglobeapr2014-3bg.jpg

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