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Minimum wage raises are great, if basic living expenses don't inflate to match it. As the author states, $15 an hour isn't even enough to get her + kids off of
by nxsynonym 9y ago
Minimum wage raises are great, if basic living expenses don't inflate to match it.
As the author states, $15 an hour isn't even enough to get her + kids off of Section 8 and Foodstamps. Minimum wage is supposed to be the minimum to afford basic living expenses, which clearly it is not.
The fix is not in continually raising the minimum wage. The fix will only come by putting a cap on rental prices, utilities, and food staples.
Universal income is a better step the right direction, but again it will only work if there is a cap on how much housing/utilities/food is raised.
- mythrwy 9y agoCaps sound like a very good way to get less food, utilities and housing in general. Until such a time when the robot overlords are put in charge of distribution freeing us from the tyranny of inefficient and cruel markets.
- Houshalter 9y agoPrice caps can't work. If the cost of an item is greater than the price, people will stop producing it. There will be no incentive to increase the supply. You get shortages and bread lines. Other factors instead of money determine what you can buy (are you a friend or family of the landlord?) Some economists theorize that price caps lead to the decline of the Roman empire. Instead just let the market work. We can build much denser and cheaper than we currently do, and housing will become much more affordable. The price of food has fallen drastically over the last century and is only getting cheaper. Utilities are monopolies with no competition at all.