4 ms·

The past 25-30 years of research do not show this to be true. The link between the minimum wage and unemployment isn't really a thing. I recognize your position

The past 25-30 years of research do not show this to be true. The link between the minimum wage and unemployment isn't really a thing. I recognize your position was the conventional wisdom in the 1990s but newer research and analysis (along with tons of states experimenting with minimum wage over the various decades) paint a clear picture that it helps not just low-income workers but can help firms too by boosting productivity. Sources: 1. https://www.nelp.org/wp-content/uploads/NELP-Data-Brief-Raise-Wages-Kill-Jobs-No-Correlation.pdf https://www.nelp.org/wp-content/uploads/NELP-Data-Brief-Rais... 2. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2705499 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2705499 3. https://americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/kf/minimumwage-layout8.pdf https://americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/kf/minimumwa... 4. https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economic-issues-watch/higher-wages-low-income-workers-lead-higher-productivity?p=4700 https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economic-issues-watch/hi...

nodesocket 6y ago
Most certainly businesses as a response will be forced to raise prices and thus increase inflation and make everyday products more expensive. These studies are obviously politically and progressively motivated (coming from firms such as american progress) so we have to assume a large scale national increase of minimum wage as significant as this would have unintended negative consequences.
- imtringued 6y ago
  If businesses can increase prices they have done so already and that would show in the form of higher demand for labor. So really, the only benefit is a psychological trick. Simply handing out money to underpaid workers would drive inflation much more effectively and do the exact same thing.
rhino369 6y ago
There is no concussion among economists that "link between the minimum wage and unemployment isn't really a thing." A lot of research suggests the effect is pretty small when the increase in minimum wage is small compared to the market wages for unskilled labor. But there isn't a lot of data about a large change in minimum wage that affects a substantial number of people. If there was no downside, why not $100 an hour?

nodesocket 6y ago

Most certainly businesses as a response will be forced to raise prices and thus increase inflation and make everyday products more expensive. These studies are obviously politically and progressively motivated (coming from firms such as american progress) so we have to assume a large scale national increase of minimum wage as significant as this would have unintended negative consequences.

imtringued 6y ago
If businesses can increase prices they have done so already and that would show in the form of higher demand for labor. So really, the only benefit is a psychological trick. Simply handing out money to underpaid workers would drive inflation much more effectively and do the exact same thing.

rhino369 6y ago

There is no concussion among economists that "link between the minimum wage and unemployment isn't really a thing." A lot of research suggests the effect is pretty small when the increase in minimum wage is small compared to the market wages for unskilled labor. But there isn't a lot of data about a large change in minimum wage that affects a substantial number of people. If there was no downside, why not $100 an hour?