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The push for a national $15 minimum wage is so unhinged from reality, yet so politically popular, that it's terrifying. People living in coastal America just do
by marcoperaza 9y ago
The push for a national $15 minimum wage is so unhinged from reality, yet so politically popular, that it's terrifying. People living in coastal America just don't realize that they'd essentially be banning work in large swaths of the country. An hour of work simply isn't worth $15 in many places. Those places also have very low costs of living.
If a $15 minimum wage was imposed nationally, these communities would collapse and you'd simply have millions of additions to the ranks of urban poverty.
- djsumdog 9y agoAustralia has a $17.70 minimum wage .. and national healthcare (medicare) without co-pays. It's worked fine for them for years.
- seangrogg 9y agoA dollar here is not a dollar there; a $15 minimum wage would be a $19.77 wage in Australia purely through currency exchange. Even then, the purchasing power parity would not be the same - goods generally tend to cost more in Australia for a variety of factors. As well, the population of Australia is over an order of magnitude smaller than that of the US over a similar geographic landmass. Perhaps making a direct comparison wasn't what you intended to do, however?
- vorotato 9y agoThat's a very convincing argument but do you have any evidence to back up those claims?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- marcoperaza 9y agoJust my own experience traveling through America. Go to a small mountain town and look at the prices in the restaurants and supermarkets, and the local real estate. There's no way that enough money is flowing to pay everyone $15/hour, nor do you need that much to live there. I do wish I had something more rigorous to give you. I am pretty sure I am not the first to make this argument though.