Up until only a few days ago, I’d never really invested much thought into the subject of minimum wage laws. Like most, I sort of took it for basic common sense that when you raise the minimum wage, you raise the standard of living for those who are generally poor, under-skilled, etc.
However, recently I’ve heard some discussion from some political candidates seeking the Presidency about abolishing the minimum wage altogether. Suffice it to say this really peaked my curiosities. I mean, why the hell would you say something like that while trying to gain as many votes as possible?!?! Isn’t it simply the conventional wisdom that the minimum wage is a good thing, and if anything needs to be raised?
So I set out to explore what possible case there could be for eliminating the minimum wage laws in America. What I found was stunning, and almost embarrassing in a way. How had I never stopped to look at this before?!? One of the more recent polls I saw stated that 83% of Americans believe that the minimum wage is a good thing. I would hazard a guess however to say that the overwhelming majority of those 83% have never really sat down and challenged that belief on their own and taken some time out to study the causes and effects on this matter. Having done so, I can say now that I am not part of this 83%...
I am the 17%.
Provided below are just some of the most interesting things I’ve come across regarding this subject. If you are going to pursue researching this subject, may I recommend doing so with an open and curious mind, rather than entering into it to argue in favor of your current beliefs. I sort of address this more in my “Courtroom Of The Mind” posting.
Below are some links to various articles, videos, etc which I’ve been looking at lately. They go to give case examples, and explain some of the theoretical ideologies behind this notion of eliminating the minimum wage. If you find other articles/videos etc, relating to this subject, please share them in the comments section because I would love to learn more about this topic. I hope you’ll read, watch, comment and share with friends and family. Thank you as always for visiting.
Wage Laws Squeeze South Africa's Poor:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/world/africa/27safrica.html?pagewanted=all
Eliminating Minimum Wage, Solving Unemployment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlVFWixxARU
The Western Right: The Case Against Minimum Wage:
http://wmugop.blogspot.com/2007/02/case-against-minimum-wage.html
The Job-Killing Impact Of Minimum Wage Laws:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMMN3UIQmEk
Milton Friedman - The Consequences Of Minimum Wage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1HAbdUw7KE
There are plenty more sources that look at the causes and effects of the minimum wage, but the above should help to get you started on looking at the case against the minimum wage. I look forward to your thoughts and opinions on the matter. Thank you.
A minimum wage can discourage labor, but I think that it prevents a downward spiral in wages, which would essentially make people into slaves. An example of this is the percentage of eligible workers out of college who take unpaid internships. This number is HUGE today, and shows that companies won't think twice to pay someone far less than they deserve to make. Especially in this economy, where cutting labor costs seems to be the preferred method to keep businesses in the black.
ReplyDeleteI would agree to abolishing a minimum wage in the following circumstances:
1) Our economy was sufficiently competitive for employment (very low unemployment, which would amount to frictional unemployment), which is the theoretical space a lot of theories work in, assuming Full employment).
2) The government provided for people that worked full time, or guaranteed everything one would need to live if one worked full time.
These arguments seem to rest in a universe where unemployment only happens because you aren't skilled enough to get the job. As the anon above mentions, you have to take into account real circumstances; people are unemployed because businesses simply don't have the money or the want to hire them, and it sure doesn't seem like a solution to just have them employ twice the amount of people at half the wage - you'd be putting whole populations into poverty while doing very little to help the currently impoverished, not to mention that many people working minimum-wage jobs are still impoverished.
ReplyDeleteIf you really do want to help the unemployed and underemployed, I'm afraid abolishing minimum wage is a pretty stupid stance to take at this juncture. We should be working on policies that get us toward full employment before we consider wage tactics that assume it.
Holy crap people are actually reading this?!?
ReplyDeleteRegarding the minimum wage thing though, doesn't it seem a bit counter intuitive in the "land of the free", to have a government step in and say, "no, the two of you may not freely enter into a mutually agreeable exchange."? I mean, if I don't want to work for less than $100 hour, isn't that my business? Similarly, if I'm happy to work for $5.00 an hour, isn't that also my business? So long as nobody is forcing me into labor, I fail to see the harm done. Additionally it should be noted that people enter into mutually agreeable exchanges like this for far less than the current minimum wage. In a number of states, people are happy to work for $2.13 an hour waiting tables. Sure they get tips, but there's no law that says anyone has to tip. And here, they exercise their Liberty to take or leave the job, and nobody makes them do it. If we're going to agree that government can step in and interfere with wage requirements, why not make sure we take care of those people who agree to wait tables for $2.13 an hour, with no guarantee they will make any more? Why not make it a law that people have to tip a minimum of 15% or more? Or why not make it 20, 30, 40%?
There is also the question of morality here. Is it morally defensible for you or I, to authorize someone else, (in this case government) the use of physical force against a person or persons (in this case the person willing to work at X wage, or the employer willing to hire at X wage) to ensure that they do not engage in what they have found to be a mutually agreeable exchange? I would think it no more defensible than someone else having the government use force against you or I to prvent us from entering such an exchange which is found mutually agreeable.
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