3 ms·
No one's kicking the can down the road. We're literally discussing it in this forum. There is too much abstention noticed in this discussion by those better off
by fishtacos 3y ago
No one's kicking the can down the road. We're literally discussing it in this forum. There is too much abstention noticed in this discussion by those better off.
It sadly a reality that those making 2.13/h have to deal with, whether from s** pay by employers, by s** tippers, or those a**holes who defend the latter.
- FredPret 3y agoRaising the minimum wage is kicking the can down the road because it does nothing to address the root cause of low pay (low market power) in the long term, but instead delivers the sugar rush of immediate cash. It looks like something is being done. But the cost is twofold: 1) higher inflation (more money, same economic output), and 2) lower political momentum to help the poor, because "didn't we just raise the minimum wage?" I desperately want every last poor person on the planet to have access to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and increasing resources. But the only way to help the poor is to engineer a situation where their market power rises. This takes many forms - encouraging more entrepreneurship (entrepreneurs hire people), better capitalization for companies (more money for hiring), steady & reliable market regulations (hiring is less risky), finding ways to increase output per worker (worker is more valuable), and many other hard things. More market power for poor people means when there's a shit employer, you go to the next one, or when you need a raise, you can demand one, and so on. Supply and demand always wins. Everything else is a distraction. Minimum wage is the rent control of the labor market.