Quote:
Originally Posted by AmeliaG
You and I agree that there is a large portion of the population who has worked for free (internships, volunteer work, entrepreneurship) or gone to school (probably with concomitant debt load) or worked extra hard at whatever they started off in or stayed loyally in the same company for a long time . . . who earn over minimum but $15 an hour or less.
Most employers want to pay more than minimum wage, so only people who are just starting off or who have very little they are willing to do or who are severely disadvantaged (like the Ronald McDonald House workers) are likely to be making minimum.
So, if the people who really can't or won't bring much value to their jobs get $15 per hour, should all the income brackets above that be raised by the same %? If so, is there an income level you would say should be the cut-off for this raise? Or are you saying that people who work hard, put a lot into learning, are loyal to their employers, etc. should earn the same as a starting fast food worker at a low end fast food restaurant?
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Well I don't know everything and I'm not an economist (though sometimes I pretend) but generally when looking at the wealth inequality charts in the US since 1970 and comparing it to productivity gain charts it seems to me that some trends should be reversed a bit.
Also (and partially because of the above) generally I think it is better for most workers (the bottom 90 or 80% let's say) for the minimum wage to be pushed up rather than down. This is because, yes, I think it will put some upward pressure on other more middle class wages. The reverse is also true too. If you say dropped the minimum wage to $3 or even eliminated it then it would probably put some downward pressure on wages.
Again I don't know everything but if you look at past charts which adjust for inflation a $9 minimum wage is about the average for much of the period past 1960 up until about the early 80s. I think a $9 minimum wage then is reasonable and thereafter I think it should be adjusted annually for inflation. I guess you might argue that it should be raised more to help reduce income and wealth inequality. I'm not sure that is the best option. For now stopping the bleeding would be a good first step.