Of course not. But I don't think it's crazy to think they might squeeze down their workforce if they had to pay twice as much.

There's no free lunch with raising the minimum wage. One of the following things has to happen, and in reality, a little bit of each would happen:

1) The workers being paid a higher wage are automated away by technology because rising labor costs make capital equipment more cost competitive to use. Impact: Less jobs. Low wage workers with jobs win, but many low wage jobs disappear.
2) Companies try to maintain margins and thus raise the prices on all goods and services. Impact- Inflation is borne by all of society and real purchasing power goes down. The pain is shared broadly across the economy.
3) Companies eat the extra cost and do not lower employment or raise prices. Impact: This is the one that would hit the upper classes the most because it would lower earnings on companies that they own or run including all publicly traded companies.

In scenario 3, the low wages workers win as a greater share of our economy is flowing to them. Since corporate profits are at a record high relative to all income, this is the preferred situation. It is a good way to redistribute income. Unfortunately, none of us can control how companies collectively would respond to the forced payment of higher wages. In the end, employees must be providing value add that exceeds their costs. Otherwise, over time those jobs will disappear.

The wage discussion aside, as a country we need to provide the education and skill development that will make our high schoolers valuable to employers. One of our biggest failures as a society is that too many kids get to 18 years old and have no tangible skills to offer an employer. And as they age, it doesn't get any better.

They already do. How many workers do you think Wal-Mart puts in every store that they don't need?

Yes, I noted that 2&3 are good for low wage workers. However, where your logic fails on automation is that as you raise the cost of wages, you make investments in productivity technology more cost competitive.

If a company has a low wage worker cost of $20M annually, and you raise that by 50% to $30M annually, you now have a much bigger incentive to spend on expensive equipment to remove cost layers. Even if you have to spend say $50M upfront, your savings on employment costs are recurring each year. Basically, you have lowered the project hurdle rate significantly.

Black men were removed from the home years before the crime bill was conceived. Moynihan's study on the black family was written 30 years before that. Most sociologists attribute the desertion of black males to things that precede the crime bill. There was a steep decline in the number of homicides in Chicago shortly after that bill was enacted.

It wasn't just whites that were calling for govt to get tough on crime. Blacks were as well.

From each according to his ability to each according to his needs.

It wasn't just the black fathers that were removed, you had the same thing happening to poor and minorities everywhere. While there was a decline of the involvement of the black father prior to the Crime Bill, he was virtually eliminated a decade later.

You're rewriting history on the homicide numbers. In 1999 or 2000 (can’t remember and don't feel like looking it up) there were 1000 murders in Chicago. The decline didn't really happen until this decade and we are starting to see the numbers climb again.

I know there were MANY blacks that were at a similar points and status in life as you are that were pushing for the Crime Bill then. I pointed that out in this thread and others. Just like now there are MANY blacks that are pushing for the National Guard to come in. You all were out of touch and wrong then and the same is true now.

I give Comrade Rick much applause for his work going against corporate welfare and looking out for the poor. Unfortunately, I do not trust it is as easy as he seems to think it is. I do not want to insult him in any way but I have to assume that really really smart people with expertise in this with just as big a heart have worked on this a long time and haven't figured it all out.

Higher min wage has already failed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/won ... b3e47b3d13

Higher min wage has already failed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/won ... b3e47b3d13

I give Comrade Rick much applause for his work going against corporate welfare and looking out for the poor. Unfortunately, I do not trust it is as easy as he seems to think it is. I do not want to insult him in any way but I have to assume that really really smart people with expertise in this with just as big a heart have worked on this a long time and haven't figured it all out.

I give Comrade Rick much applause for his work going against corporate welfare and looking out for the poor. Unfortunately, I do not trust it is as easy as he seems to think it is. I do not want to insult him in any way but I have to assume that really really smart people with expertise in this with just as big a heart have worked on this a long time and haven't figured it all out.

Its like the household budget. We don't NEED cable or premium packages but we have it and we pay for it. If money gets tight, I can cut channels. Sure it will suck to not have as many but I can live with just basic cable. I'm sure there is fat to be trimmed from every Wal-Mart in the country.

Who do you think stops most minimum wage increases?

It wasn't just the black fathers that were removed, you had the same thing happening to poor and minorities everywhere. While there was a decline of the involvement of the black father prior to the Crime Bill, he was virtually eliminated a decade later.

You're rewriting history on the homicide numbers. In 1999 or 2000 (can’t remember and don't feel like looking it up) there were 1000 murders in Chicago. The decline didn't really happen until this decade and we are starting to see the numbers climb again.

I know there were MANY blacks that were at a similar points and status in life as you are that were pushing for the Crime Bill then. I pointed that out in this thread and others. Just like now there are MANY blacks that are pushing for the National Guard to come in. You all were out of touch and wrong then and the same is true now.

Higher min wage has already failed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/won ... b3e47b3d13

That study excluded businesses with more than one location. (Wal Mart, McDonalds)


https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-07-10/the-overhyped-seattle-minimum-wage-disaster


So far, the evidence is going the other way. Not only is the data not public, so it hasn’t yet been peer reviewed, but what we do know about the study’s methodology has been criticized for its failings. The biggest is that it excludes businesses with more than one location. In other words, no McDonald’s or other fast-food restaurant chains were included. Nor was Wal-Mart, or any of the countless other well-known retail and restaurant chains.

That is quite a significant oversight: Michael Reich of the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at the University of California at Berkeley analyzed the impact of the methodology used. He notes that the UofW report excludes “48 percent of Seattle’s low-paid workforce out of their study.”

This is a major flaw.

Yes, I noted that 2&3 are good for low wage workers. However, where your logic fails on automation is that as you raise the cost of wages, you make investments in productivity technology more cost competitive.

If a company has a low wage worker cost of $20M annually, and you raise that by 50% to $30M annually, you now have a much bigger incentive to spend on expensive equipment to remove cost layers. Even if you have to spend say $50M upfront, your savings on employment costs are recurring each year. Basically, you have lowered the project hurdle rate significantly.