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Incomes of those that have managed to get a job are rising because of state-mandated increases in minimum wage - not because of natural market forces. Business

Incomes of those that have managed to get a job are rising because of state-mandated increases in minimum wage - not because of natural market forces. Businesses have two ways to compensate for the higher cost of labor that has been imposed on them: they can hire fewer people, and they can raise prices. Some will do both. But prices will rise - they just haven't yet because most of the increases in minimum wage were fairly recent.

jessriedel 10y ago
You've edited your top-level comment from "Incomes are going up, but so are prices" to "Incomes are going up in large part due to increases in the minimum wage, which will ultimately cause a rise in prices" in response to friendlygrammar's data. Why didn't you mark the edit, which substantially changes your claims?
- unclebucknasty 10y ago
  Testament to the current political reality: ideology trumps facts. It's an old saying that democracy depends upon an informed citizenry, but what happens when the citizenry doesn't act in accordance with the information?
hackuser 10y ago
Do you have any basis for this claim?
- threeseed 10y ago
  There is none. It's been "wisdom" for so many years that low taxes and low minimum wage results in increased employment and better prosperity for all. Guess what. It hasn't worked. And it's a stupid argument to make when productivity is such an important measure that never gets factored in. How productive are workers who can't afford to properly live ?
unclebucknasty 10y ago
>prices will rise While the overall impact of minimum wage increases on prices is far from settled, history has not shown it to lead to the catastrohic increases that are oft-foretold by opponents. For instance, one full year after Washington's wage increase, we aren't seeing marked price increases [0]. If the effects of the wage increase on businesses was as profound as the doom-sayers wanted us to believe, then a year is certainly more than enough time to have seen them. >they can hire fewer people An expanding economy (which is partially fueled by higher incomes), helps to offset displacement of workers. Further, it's not as if businesses were seeking to hire workers they didn't need in any case. In fact, the ever-striving for optimal efficiency and productivity combined with automation is largely to blame for the lower labor demand/stagnant wages that precipitated the need for an increased minimum wage in the first place. [0] http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/04/18/early-analysis-of-seattles-15-wage-law-effect-on-prices-minimal-one-year-after-implementation/ http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/04/18/early-analysis-of-...
- enturn 10y ago
  Indeed, it surprises me how employers are given so much credit for creating jobs when they're responding to demand. The more people who can (or are willing to) spend money on products and services, the more jobs are created. Businesses may start jobs but it's the consumers that make them viable.
crdoconnor 10y ago
>Businesses have two ways to compensate for the higher cost of labor that has been imposed on them: they can hire fewer people, and they can raise prices. This is the "big lie" about the minimum wage. Reality is that profits get hit first and profits get hit hardest. Business lobbies and restaurant associations spend millions lobbying to prevent minimum wage increases. That would be completely irrational behavior if they could just pass on the costs to the consumer.

jessriedel 10y ago

You've edited your top-level comment from "Incomes are going up, but so are prices" to "Incomes are going up in large part due to increases in the minimum wage, which will ultimately cause a rise in prices" in response to friendlygrammar's data. Why didn't you mark the edit, which substantially changes your claims?

unclebucknasty 10y ago
Testament to the current political reality: ideology trumps facts. It's an old saying that democracy depends upon an informed citizenry, but what happens when the citizenry doesn't act in accordance with the information?

hackuser 10y ago

Do you have any basis for this claim?

threeseed 10y ago
There is none. It's been "wisdom" for so many years that low taxes and low minimum wage results in increased employment and better prosperity for all. Guess what. It hasn't worked. And it's a stupid argument to make when productivity is such an important measure that never gets factored in. How productive are workers who can't afford to properly live ?

unclebucknasty 10y ago

>prices will rise While the overall impact of minimum wage increases on prices is far from settled, history has not shown it to lead to the catastrohic increases that are oft-foretold by opponents. For instance, one full year after Washington's wage increase, we aren't seeing marked price increases [0]. If the effects of the wage increase on businesses was as profound as the doom-sayers wanted us to believe, then a year is certainly more than enough time to have seen them. >they can hire fewer people An expanding economy (which is partially fueled by higher incomes), helps to offset displacement of workers. Further, it's not as if businesses were seeking to hire workers they didn't need in any case. In fact, the ever-striving for optimal efficiency and productivity combined with automation is largely to blame for the lower labor demand/stagnant wages that precipitated the need for an increased minimum wage in the first place. [0] http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/04/18/early-analysis-of-seattles-15-wage-law-effect-on-prices-minimal-one-year-after-implementation/ http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/04/18/early-analysis-of-...

enturn 10y ago
Indeed, it surprises me how employers are given so much credit for creating jobs when they're responding to demand. The more people who can (or are willing to) spend money on products and services, the more jobs are created. Businesses may start jobs but it's the consumers that make them viable.

crdoconnor 10y ago

>Businesses have two ways to compensate for the higher cost of labor that has been imposed on them: they can hire fewer people, and they can raise prices. This is the "big lie" about the minimum wage. Reality is that profits get hit first and profits get hit hardest. Business lobbies and restaurant associations spend millions lobbying to prevent minimum wage increases. That would be completely irrational behavior if they could just pass on the costs to the consumer.