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Whether they deserve or it or not doesn't change whether the market will support it. Some people making 10 dollars an hour might get a raise to 13, but some mig

Whether they deserve or it or not doesn't change whether the market will support it. Some people making 10 dollars an hour might get a raise to 13, but some might just get fired. So law decides that someone whose labor is only worth 10 dollars to the market is better off banned from working.

coldpie 9y ago
I'm willing to entertain other ideas. If the living wage is X and the minimum wage is Y < X, then someone has to make up the difference. Two methods to make up the gap that make sense to me are taxation and redistribution, or raising the minimum wage. How do you suggest to make up the gap?
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > How do you suggest to make up the gap? How about first reducing the gap by reducing taxation of labor income, including employer-side payroll taxes (which both reduces the nominal wage necessary for livable income and makes it less expensive for employees to hire workers at any given nominal wage.)
  - coldpie 9y ago
    I admit I've never been on the employer side of the payroll equation, but I'd be shocked if that was enough to make up the gap, especially when you consider the reduction in social services that would be required to balance it. Kansas is going down the "no tax" route and is on the verge of falling apart.
    - gbacon 9y ago
      I am an employer. Sharpen your pencil and work it out from the other side. You’d probably be a generous boss. See what you can do. There lies enlightenment.
  - extra88 9y ago
    > reducing taxation of labor income, including employer-side payroll taxes How do you replace the funding those taxes provide, especially FICA which funds Social Security and Medicare?
- lend000 9y ago
  I edited my original comment: universal basic income + no minimum wage or other forms of welfare (most of which offer negative incentives, such as TANF, unemployment benefits, mandatory social security, etc.). UBI should get you a very base level of livability (not enough to live in an expensive metropolis like SF/NYC), but not enough that most people won't want to work to improve their standard of living. Minimum wage and other forms of welfare just don't make sense compared to a simple, clean, basic income.

coldpie 9y ago

I'm willing to entertain other ideas. If the living wage is X and the minimum wage is Y < X, then someone has to make up the difference. Two methods to make up the gap that make sense to me are taxation and redistribution, or raising the minimum wage. How do you suggest to make up the gap?

dragonwriter 9y ago
> How do you suggest to make up the gap? How about first reducing the gap by reducing taxation of labor income, including employer-side payroll taxes (which both reduces the nominal wage necessary for livable income and makes it less expensive for employees to hire workers at any given nominal wage.)
- coldpie 9y ago
  I admit I've never been on the employer side of the payroll equation, but I'd be shocked if that was enough to make up the gap, especially when you consider the reduction in social services that would be required to balance it. Kansas is going down the "no tax" route and is on the verge of falling apart.
  - gbacon 9y ago
    I am an employer. Sharpen your pencil and work it out from the other side. You’d probably be a generous boss. See what you can do. There lies enlightenment.
- extra88 9y ago
  > reducing taxation of labor income, including employer-side payroll taxes How do you replace the funding those taxes provide, especially FICA which funds Social Security and Medicare?
lend000 9y ago
I edited my original comment: universal basic income + no minimum wage or other forms of welfare (most of which offer negative incentives, such as TANF, unemployment benefits, mandatory social security, etc.). UBI should get you a very base level of livability (not enough to live in an expensive metropolis like SF/NYC), but not enough that most people won't want to work to improve their standard of living. Minimum wage and other forms of welfare just don't make sense compared to a simple, clean, basic income.