3 ms·

> With such a small profit margin, arbitrarily raising everyone's wages is likely going to kill the business. There have been past minimum wage hikes, and that

> With such a small profit margin, arbitrarily raising everyone's wages is likely going to kill the business. There have been past minimum wage hikes, and that's not what has happened. The costs get passed onto consumers. Of course, there's presumably some hypothetical minimum wage that would be too high and destroy the industry, but the amounts being discussed in the US are below what other countries have already tried.

nickff 6y ago
Your second sentence is debatable, as it appears that many European countries have high enough minimum total compensations (including benefits and other indirect costs) that unemployment is relatively high, and it can be very tough to get on the economic ladder.
- rbg246 6y ago
  But equally a poverty wage job doesn't get you on the ladder it makes you an indentured servant.
  - nickff 6y ago
    The company I work at has hired a number of employees whose only previous work was very low wage, and that (low wage) experience definitely weighed in their favor.
  - humanrebar 6y ago
    A verified history of showing up in time and not getting fired for theft or negligence is definitely valuable.
- gilbetron 6y ago
  Which countries are suffering from this?
  - magila 6y ago
    France and Italy have long had chronically high unemployment, particularly among young adults who struggle to gain entry into the workforce due to the high cost floor on labor.
- nitwit005 6y ago
  My second sentence is suggesting that fast food restaurants will pass higher labor onto consumers. Your point seems entirely unrelated to that idea.
  - nickff 6y ago
    You are correct, I missed that period, and was in fact referring to your second paragraph.
heavyset_go 6y ago
> The costs get passed onto consumers. Regarding this, from this[1] paper: > Many business leaders fear that any increase in the minimum wage will be passed on to consumers through price increases thereby slowing spending and economic growth, but that may not be the case. New research shows that the pass-through effect on prices is fleeting and much smaller than previously thought. > By looking at changes in restaurant food pricing during the period of 1978–2015, MacDonald and Nilsson find that prices rose by just 0.36 percent for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, which is only about half the size reported in previous studies. They also observe that small minimum wage increases do not lead to higher prices and may actually reduce prices. Furthermore, it is also possible that small minimum wage increases could lead to increased employment in low-wage labor market. [1] https://www.upjohn.org/research-highlights/does-increasing-minimum-wage-lead-higher-prices https://www.upjohn.org/research-highlights/does-increasing-m...

nickff 6y ago

Your second sentence is debatable, as it appears that many European countries have high enough minimum total compensations (including benefits and other indirect costs) that unemployment is relatively high, and it can be very tough to get on the economic ladder.

rbg246 6y ago
But equally a poverty wage job doesn't get you on the ladder it makes you an indentured servant.
- nickff 6y ago
  The company I work at has hired a number of employees whose only previous work was very low wage, and that (low wage) experience definitely weighed in their favor.
- humanrebar 6y ago
  A verified history of showing up in time and not getting fired for theft or negligence is definitely valuable.
gilbetron 6y ago
Which countries are suffering from this?
- magila 6y ago
  France and Italy have long had chronically high unemployment, particularly among young adults who struggle to gain entry into the workforce due to the high cost floor on labor.
nitwit005 6y ago
My second sentence is suggesting that fast food restaurants will pass higher labor onto consumers. Your point seems entirely unrelated to that idea.
- nickff 6y ago
  You are correct, I missed that period, and was in fact referring to your second paragraph.

heavyset_go 6y ago

> The costs get passed onto consumers. Regarding this, from this[1] paper: > Many business leaders fear that any increase in the minimum wage will be passed on to consumers through price increases thereby slowing spending and economic growth, but that may not be the case. New research shows that the pass-through effect on prices is fleeting and much smaller than previously thought. > By looking at changes in restaurant food pricing during the period of 1978–2015, MacDonald and Nilsson find that prices rose by just 0.36 percent for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, which is only about half the size reported in previous studies. They also observe that small minimum wage increases do not lead to higher prices and may actually reduce prices. Furthermore, it is also possible that small minimum wage increases could lead to increased employment in low-wage labor market. [1] https://www.upjohn.org/research-highlights/does-increasing-minimum-wage-lead-higher-prices https://www.upjohn.org/research-highlights/does-increasing-m...