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There's no reasonable minimum wage. A minimum wage that would be appropriate for restaurants is nonsensical for electricians. The swedish model basically sets

• AnthonyMouse 3y ago
  > The swedish model basically sets minimum wage by sector. Much more tailored to the employers and employees. But this is the same argument for why there shouldn't be one at all. One of the major problems with the minimum wage in the US is that it de facto destroys training programs for entry-level employees. You could go to a school and pay them money to be trained or go to Walmart and do unskilled labor for low wages. But if you want to go to an employer and spend 40 hours there of which half is working and half is learning, what's the appropriate wage for that? You might very well should be paying them -- they're getting as yet still unskilled labor and you're getting qualified to do a job that would ultimately pay above-median wages that you might otherwise pay $30,000/year in tuition for. Taking that deal with them paying you $2/hour could be a bargain. But not if it's prohibited by law. Meanwhile someone could then offer $2/hour for an ordinary job, but who is going to take them up on that for no countervailing benefit when other employers pay more? It's the same reason 98% of people are paid more than the existing minimum wage despite no legal requirement to do so.
  • londons_explore 3y ago
    And this is exactly why economists wouldn't have a minimum wage in their economic utopia.