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I don't think that's how employment pools work. Sure, there's an element of "this job is only worth $7.5/hour, so if we have to pay someone $15/hour we won't d

by wlll 8y ago

I don't think that's how employment pools work. Sure, there's an element of "this job is only worth $7.5/hour, so if we have to pay someone $15/hour we won't do it", but I'd suggest that those jobs are actually not that common. I'd instead suggest that most jobs need doing, and they will just cost more. Ditches still need digging, burgers still need flipping, and it will just cost a bit more now.

simula67 8y ago
You don't need to speculate. There is a research that shows it does hurt lower skill workers : http://www.nber.org/papers/w12663.pdf http://www.nber.org/papers/w12663.pdf
- wlll 8y ago
  That's an interesting read, in summary it seems that rises in the minimum wage have a small negative impact, mostly for low paid young people. That makes sense, there's going to be jobs that just aren't profitable when the wages go up. If I can make $4 on a box of shleem, and the kid who packs the shleem's wages go up $5 I have to pack the shleem myself, or stop selling it. One thing that the report mentioned, and is maybe a possible cause of this negative increase, was that kids will leave school sooner when the minimum wage is higher. Perhaps to counter the issue there could be some sort of means-tested grant system to help keep kids in school?
conanbatt 8y ago
Lots of interesting things happen when you play with price. Sometimes its higher-paying workers that benefit the most: if you can handle data management manually at 7.5U$S you hire cheap labor. If it costs 15U$S you hire an engineer to make a permanent and scalable solution. I am not enamored by the concept of minimum wage, and to this day its a fight among economists.
- drak0n1c 8y ago
  The minimum wage has exactly the same effect on labor as the carbon tax has on the energy industry. There are winners and there are losers. But generally, when the government decides, there is deadweight loss in efficiency.

by wlll 8y ago

simula67 8y ago

You don't need to speculate. There is a research that shows it does hurt lower skill workers : http://www.nber.org/papers/w12663.pdf http://www.nber.org/papers/w12663.pdf

wlll 8y ago
That's an interesting read, in summary it seems that rises in the minimum wage have a small negative impact, mostly for low paid young people. That makes sense, there's going to be jobs that just aren't profitable when the wages go up. If I can make $4 on a box of shleem, and the kid who packs the shleem's wages go up $5 I have to pack the shleem myself, or stop selling it. One thing that the report mentioned, and is maybe a possible cause of this negative increase, was that kids will leave school sooner when the minimum wage is higher. Perhaps to counter the issue there could be some sort of means-tested grant system to help keep kids in school?

conanbatt 8y ago

Lots of interesting things happen when you play with price. Sometimes its higher-paying workers that benefit the most: if you can handle data management manually at 7.5U$S you hire cheap labor. If it costs 15U$S you hire an engineer to make a permanent and scalable solution. I am not enamored by the concept of minimum wage, and to this day its a fight among economists.

drak0n1c 8y ago
The minimum wage has exactly the same effect on labor as the carbon tax has on the energy industry. There are winners and there are losers. But generally, when the government decides, there is deadweight loss in efficiency.