4 ms·

>Manicures will end up costing $20 instead of $10, and workers will be able to live like people and not animals. Are you accounting for the loss of customers t

>Manicures will end up costing $20 instead of $10, and workers will be able to live like people and not animals. Are you accounting for the loss of customers that doubling the prices would cause?

davesque 11y ago
Maybe that would show that there is no viable market for manicuring services and that people doing that for a living are better off finding another line of work? I'm not saying this is what I think, just a counter-point.
dandelany 11y ago
Demand will certainly decrease. Some nail salons will have to close and we will find out the number of legal nail salons the market bears. Those who go out of business will need to find another line of work. I see no problem with this. It will be a turbulent time for some people but that's not a valid reason to continue to prop up a badly-regulated economy that relies on illegally underpaying its workers.
- dantheman 11y ago
  If these people had better options don't you think they would take them?
  - erikpukinskis 11y ago
    It's disappointing to me that you are choosing to encourage practices that reinforce the bad options instead of thinking about how to grow the pool of good ones.
    - dantheman 11y ago
      Sorry, may argument wasn't clear - it wasn't so much that the practices don't need to improve, but that the real problem is that people have to settle for this. It might be more cost effective and provide a better outcome for those involved if we focused on providing them with the skills and the knowledge that they could take advantage of better opportunities and turn these ones down. I think everyone should be treated with dignity and respect, but I have strong fear about removing the bottom rungs of the ladder - sometimes the value that people provide is well below their cost and they need to get started.
      - dandelany 11y ago
        But we're not talking about removing the bottom rung of the ladder, we're talking about fixing said bottom rung and making it stronger. It'll be gone for awhile while we're working on it, which will be hard for people. But it will be better for everyone once we've fixed it.
com2kid 11y ago
> Are you accounting for the loss of customers that doubling the prices would cause? A question that won't be answered without an elasticity of demand curve for good nails. Given that manicured nails are largely driven by cultural expectations, I'd suspect that a $10 increase won't change much.
jlarocco 11y ago
Who cares? Manicures are just about the most useless status symbol product there is. The ladies doing the manicures will be unemployed, but since they're not getting paid now, they'll actually be better off. They need to skip the lawsuits and throw the owners in prison. Working for weeks with no pay is practically slavery. Edit: Now that I think about it, why isn't the IRS looking into this, too? I have a hard time believing the owners aren't paying their workers, but are paying proper taxes and withholdings for them.
- colechristensen 11y ago
  The IRS is underfunded as a means of inhibiting enforcement because the dysfunctional Congress is unable to make law. The IRS only goes after lucrative targets (big fines and large back taxes) and cannot afford to enforce the law. Why? The electorate is stupid and being made stupid by eagerly consuming media selling information entertainment, acting on the political and financial will of their owners. Partisan bullshit, and the willingness to participate in it by citizens on _every_ side, is the major threat to our democracy.

>Manicures will end up costing $20 instead of $10, and workers will be able to live like people and not animals. Are you accounting for the loss of customers that doubling the prices would cause?

davesque 11y ago

Maybe that would show that there is no viable market for manicuring services and that people doing that for a living are better off finding another line of work? I'm not saying this is what I think, just a counter-point.

dandelany 11y ago

Demand will certainly decrease. Some nail salons will have to close and we will find out the number of legal nail salons the market bears. Those who go out of business will need to find another line of work. I see no problem with this. It will be a turbulent time for some people but that's not a valid reason to continue to prop up a badly-regulated economy that relies on illegally underpaying its workers.

dantheman 11y ago
If these people had better options don't you think they would take them?
- erikpukinskis 11y ago
  It's disappointing to me that you are choosing to encourage practices that reinforce the bad options instead of thinking about how to grow the pool of good ones.
  - dantheman 11y ago
    Sorry, may argument wasn't clear - it wasn't so much that the practices don't need to improve, but that the real problem is that people have to settle for this. It might be more cost effective and provide a better outcome for those involved if we focused on providing them with the skills and the knowledge that they could take advantage of better opportunities and turn these ones down. I think everyone should be treated with dignity and respect, but I have strong fear about removing the bottom rungs of the ladder - sometimes the value that people provide is well below their cost and they need to get started.
    - dandelany 11y ago
      But we're not talking about removing the bottom rung of the ladder, we're talking about fixing said bottom rung and making it stronger. It'll be gone for awhile while we're working on it, which will be hard for people. But it will be better for everyone once we've fixed it.

com2kid 11y ago

> Are you accounting for the loss of customers that doubling the prices would cause? A question that won't be answered without an elasticity of demand curve for good nails. Given that manicured nails are largely driven by cultural expectations, I'd suspect that a $10 increase won't change much.

jlarocco 11y ago

Who cares? Manicures are just about the most useless status symbol product there is. The ladies doing the manicures will be unemployed, but since they're not getting paid now, they'll actually be better off. They need to skip the lawsuits and throw the owners in prison. Working for weeks with no pay is practically slavery. Edit: Now that I think about it, why isn't the IRS looking into this, too? I have a hard time believing the owners aren't paying their workers, but are paying proper taxes and withholdings for them.

colechristensen 11y ago
The IRS is underfunded as a means of inhibiting enforcement because the dysfunctional Congress is unable to make law. The IRS only goes after lucrative targets (big fines and large back taxes) and cannot afford to enforce the law. Why? The electorate is stupid and being made stupid by eagerly consuming media selling information entertainment, acting on the political and financial will of their owners. Partisan bullshit, and the willingness to participate in it by citizens on _every_ side, is the major threat to our democracy.