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The minimum wage (not directly the answer but a useful reference) hit its peak inflation-adjusted value in 1968, per the EPI: https://www.epi.org/publication/co
by phnofive 5y ago
The minimum wage (not directly the answer but a useful reference) hit its peak inflation-adjusted value in 1968, per the EPI: https://www.epi.org/publication/congress-has-never-let-the-federal-minimum-wage-erode-for-this-long/ https://www.epi.org/publication/congress-has-never-let-the-f...
- dwohnitmok 5y agoThis is a good point. The federal minimum wage not rising is a good indicator that there are likely large sections of the U.S. with precipitous drops in real wages, in particular those places with no higher minimum wage than the federal minimum. But the overall minimum wage is the highest in history (adjusted for inflation): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/upshot/why-america-may-already-have-its-highest-minimum-wage.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/upshot/why-america-may-al...
- phnofive 5y ago'Effective minimum wage' is Ernie Tedeschi's hobbyhorse and has little to do with my point. I'd like to live in a world where minimum wage was irrelevant because business owners grow their companies efficiently and pay a salary that is fair according to universal consensus, but gig work tells us all we need to know about the effectiveness of a price floor for protecting those around the poverty level from completely devaluing low skill labor. Don't unions essentially exist for the same reason?
- Ekaros 5y agoInteresting question really. Who should receive minimum wage? I would probably think of unskilled unskilled labour. That is only the labour starting in those unskilled positions. A few months should have already improved their productivity compared to peers just starting.