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Do the costs of goods and services need to go up? Or do the places paying low wages now just need to accept a smaller profit margin or lower executive pay? It
by danaris 4y ago
Do the costs of goods and services need to go up?
Or do the places paying low wages now just need to accept a smaller profit margin or lower executive pay?
It's unquestionably true that there are some places that pay low wages that cannot afford to pay better wages without increasing prices; however, we seem to have collectively decided that that's the only way wages can increase. But that ignores the fact that corporations in all (or at least many) sectors have been enjoying record profits recently, and executive-to-worker pay ratios are absurdly high.
Remember that next time you see someone claiming that raising wages necessarily means that prices will need to rise.
- afavour 4y agoEhhhh. I don't disagree for a second that, say, Starbucks could take a hit, reduce profits and still be able to operate successfully in New York. But I'd argue a lot of what makes New York the city it is is things like small independent restaurants that already operate on very thin margins. They also have no fat cat executives pocketing the spoils. So, perhaps, yes, the city could survive without increasing wages but I worry it would result in a very faceless city filled with nothing other than big corporate entities that are able to swallow the cost.
- GaylordTuring 4y ago…which in turn would make people less inclined to go there, driving the costs down, making it possible for the small shops to come back.
- bombcar 4y agoI’m surprised that Walmart et al haven’t started pushing for higher wages to kill competition- they must not care much about the smaller competitors. McDonalds and Starbucks eat a wage increase in stride, small restaurants and businesses just go under.
- dml2135 4y agoIt's because any potential of increased profit from less competition would still be less that the amount of profit they make by fleecing their workers.