2 ms·
> Has the productivity at the lower margin grown that much? I seriously doubt that. That's the problem. The minimum wage is a legal instrument, not just an eco
by orangeoxidation 5y ago
> Has the productivity at the lower margin grown that much? I seriously doubt that.
That's the problem. The minimum wage is a legal instrument, not just an economic process. It is designed for the lower margin to be "overpaid" over what they could get from the market otherwise.
It basically says "everyone working should get at least this much of our collective production". This is what we have decided our society should work like.
Our collective productivity increased much faster than minimal wage, making the minimal wage worker much poorer by comparison.
- jrsj 5y agoWe’ve also completely failed to provide adequate opportunities for these workers to gain the skills and education to be able to do something more valuable with their time. That’s a problem the minimum wage can’t solve. There’s a threshold where people will just become unemployable under that model without more investment in them.
- lostapathy 5y agoI completely agree. However, raising the minimum wage does nothing to address the skills gap at the bottom. If anything, one could argue raising the minimum wage would reduce incentive to acquire better skills and get a better job. Why put in the work to level up if those better jobs don't pay appreciably better anyway?