Congress votes to increase minimum wage, House, Senate pass $2.10 increase as part of Iraq spending bill Options

[Spectatrix]

time and time again studies have shown that an increase in minimum wage does not raise inflation or the cost of living. I believe in NM (I think it was NM, don't quote me) the minimum wage is damn near or over $10/hr, and several studies were done concluding that there were no economic repurcussions other than lowering unemployment and overall increases in happytimeness.

Santa Fe has a $9.50 minimum wage, but the state as a whole is at $5.15.

I still think minimum wage should be a states issue.

Ditto.

I want money.

I don't think I'll get a raise, though because I make 6.00/hr. I think the raise only comes for those making 5.15/hr

Your wage will be at or above the minimum. The minimum is going up in 70-cent increments, so your wage will definitely go up for the second of those.

Links to studies?

I second this request.

[zetec]

http://www.epinet.org/Issuebriefs/ib149/ib149.pdf
http://www.epinet.org/briefingpapers/151/bp151.pdf
http://www.eoionline.org/MinimumWage/MW-Re...8.htm#Issue%209

and of course, there's allways a quick google search:
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&...cause+inflation

Doesn't cause job loss either.
Same links.

[chook]

only one on inflation causing. I agree that energy affects it much more, but it would affect it somewhat, more buying power and its a sudden 5% shift.

[James]

How could anyone argue with a straight face that minimum wage is not a causation of inflation??? Common sense tells you that if Farmer Bob was making $1 per pound of grain (just an example) before an increase in minimum wage, he's going to charge more after because he wants to stay in the same relative income bracket. But then everyone's going to have to pay more for their breads, so now they increase charges for services rendered and it just has a snowball effect.

That doesn't even include all the people making above the current minimum wage but below the new minimum wage that are going to require pay raises above the new minimum wage or suffer a blow to their morale.

Quit fucking with minimum wage! I wonder if ditching the idea of minimum wage and instead implementing an idea of minimum frequency and magnitude of pay raise would be better. The idea being that the longer time in employment, the more you earn, as it should be. This would probably lead to higher turnover rates though to keep wages low. Yeah, bad idea.

[pebkac]

How could anyone argue with a straight face that minimum wage is not a causation of inflation??? Common sense tells you that if Farmer Bob was making $1 per pound of grain (just an example) before an increase in minimum wage, he's going to charge more after because he wants to stay in the same relative income bracket. But then everyone's going to have to pay more for their breads, so now they increase charges for services rendered and it just has a snowball effect.

That doesn't even include all the people making above the current minimum wage but below the new minimum wage that are going to require pay raises above the new minimum wage or suffer a blow to their morale.

Quit fucking with minimum wage! I wonder if ditching the idea of minimum wage and instead implementing an idea of minimum frequency and magnitude of pay raise would be better. The idea being that the longer time in employment, the more you earn, as it should be. This would probably lead to higher turnover rates though to keep wages low. Yeah, bad idea.

Of course with a wage increase, that means there's more purchasing power to offset inflation.

[James]

Minimum wage offsets the inflation.

BZZZZZT! Wrong answer.

Inflation offsets the minimum wage.

Take care to notice the difference in the two statements.

K. I'm done with this thread. Nothing that can be done about it now. It's already been signed.

[Dogmeat]

I know, huh.

You'll NEVER see a Republican do that, no sir-ee bob.

yeah you see them doing it they just fail miserably at it cuz everyone knows only uppity rich white folks vote republican

[Dogmeat]

Of course with a wage increase, that means there's more purchasing power to offset inflation.

if only %4 of the work force in the US was actually making minimum, as somone else stated (somone else check the validity of this) then I'm willing to make the argument that the increase will go directly to illegal narcotic sales as opposed t osomething that supports the national economy.

[JRockTTU]

http://www.epinet.org/Issuebriefs/ib149/ib149.pdf
http://www.epinet.org/briefingpapers/151/bp151.pdf
http://www.eoionline.org/MinimumWage/MW-Re...8.htm#Issue%209

and of course, there's allways a quick google search:
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&...cause+inflation

Doesn't cause job loss either.
Same links.

I just skimmed over all of your links and do not see evidence in them saying that Minimum wage increase doesn't increase inflation or cost of living. The first link on your google search has a somewhat wishy-washy answer to the question

http://www.wisegeek.com/does-raising-the-m...e-inflation.htm

It is not always easy to obtain objective information when it comes to a politically charged issue such as raising the federal minimum wage. Proponents and critics alike tend to bolster their positions by publishing the opinions of economists who share their political bent. Does raising the minimum wage have a measurable effect on the rest of the economy, including the issue of inflation? Yes. Can a rise in the inflation rate be attributed directly to a rise in the minimum wage? Not necessarily. Both sides of the federal minimum wage debate do present persuasive arguments, but these arguments may be based on skewed or purely theoretical assumptions.

There is a relationship between setting the new minimum wage and inflation, but it's more of a cart before the horse situation. Many proponents of a raised federal minimum wage support the idea of matching the new base wage to the current rate of inflation, a process known as indexing. By indexing the minimum wage to the inflation rate, proponents believe the wage-earner's real spending power will also be increased. When a minimum wage hike does not keep up with inflation, which has been the case in recent years, the workers' paychecks may get a little larger but inflated prices of goods and services actually reduce the spending power of that raise.

So we know that inflation can have a detrimental effect on the real spending power of a raised minimum wage, but does a raised minimum wage cause inflation? Yes and no. From an economic standpoint, inflation can be caused by any number of new or increased costs of production, including an increase in workers' wages. If a company must increase the minimum wage of its workers by several dollars, there is obviously a new expense that must either be absorbed by the company as the cost of using human labor or passed on to customers in the form of higher prices.

Economists call this phenomenon cost-push inflation. An increase in the federal minimum wage did create an increase in production costs, which subsequently resulted in an inflated price for consumers. But critics of the cost-push inflation argument suggest that companies can always adjust their workforce to compensate for a mandated minimum wage increase. It isn't always necessary for companies to push the expenses of a higher-paid workforce onto consumers. Raising the minimum wage can create a temporary or artificial bump in the inflation rate, but so can increases in corporate taxes or a shortage of raw materials.

In short, many proponents of a raise in the federal minimum wage ascribe to the philosophy that a rising tide lifts all boats. Whenever minimum wage workers receive a boost in their take-home pay, higher-paid workers also tend to receive similar pay hikes. The rate of inflation is influenced by so many economic factors that blaming one element such as a raise in the minimum wage appears to be very short-sighted.

Much like James said, if a business selling Widgets sells 100 widgets a week for $1 each then we'll say they make $100 a week. All fixed costs are $20 a week and their only employee, Zetec, makes $1 an hour working 40 hours a week. After all is said and done, they make a $40 profit a week on their Widgets. Joe Congressman raises Zetec's minimum wage requirement to $1.50 an hour. That means instead of taking home $40 a week, Zetec will take home $60 a week, and cuts the Widget company's profits in half, down to $20. Johnny Stockholder doesn't like the idea of the company he's invested in making half of the profit they used to because they have to pay Zetec more money, so they're going to raise the cost of Widgets to $1.50 or $2.00 each. Then you've got JRock who buys a whole lot of Widgets, he likes them a lot. JRock is on salary, doesn't get paid phat, but doesn't get paid anywhere close to minimum wage. He uses his disposable income to buy Widgets, but when the minimum wage was increased JRock's employers didn't give him an increase. With the price of Widgets going up, he doesn't have the disposable income to spend twice as much on Widgets, so that's something he won't buy anymore. The price of widgets has gone up (inflation) to pay Zetec's wages, and since the middle class didn't get the same raise, they suffer because goods will cost more and they don't get paid more.

That's just the way I see it.

[Dogmeat]

I just skimmed over all of your links and do not see evidence in them saying that Minimum wage increase doesn't increase inflation or cost of living. The first link on your google search has a somewhat wishy-washy answer to the question

http://www.wisegeek.com/does-raising-the-m...e-inflation.htm
Much like James said, if a business selling Widgets sells 100 widgets a week for $1 each then we'll say they make $100 a week. All fixed costs are $20 a week and their only employee, Zetec, makes $1 an hour working 40 hours a week. After all is said and done, they make a $40 profit a week on their Widgets. Joe Congressman raises Zetec's minimum wage requirement to $1.50 an hour. That means instead of taking home $40 a week, Zetec will take home $60 a week, and cuts the Widget company's profits in half, down to $20. Johnny Stockholder doesn't like the idea of the company he's invested in making half of the profit they used to because they have to pay Zetec more money, so they're going to raise the cost of Widgets to $1.50 or $2.00 each. Then you've got JRock who buys a whole lot of Widgets, he likes them a lot. JRock is on salary, doesn't get paid phat, but doesn't get paid anywhere close to minimum wage. He uses his disposable income to buy Widgets, but when the minimum wage was increased JRock's employers didn't give him an increase. With the price of Widgets going up, he doesn't have the disposable income to spend twice as much on Widgets, so that's something he won't buy anymore. The price of widgets has gone up (inflation) to pay Zetec's wages, and since the middle class didn't get the same raise, they suffer because goods will cost more and they don't get paid more.

That's just the way I see it.

that's an excellent description I think ...

Can anyone find a confirmation on that "%4" number ....? Somone stated earlier here that only %4 of the US work force makes minimum wage..... I'd like to see where that came from.

[Psykopath]

Since we've given the Iraq War 5 years to ...well, "work," how about we give the minimum wage increase 5 years before we bitch?

OH WAIT, forgot...unamerican to block free speech...as long as said free speech supports a certain point of view.

Got it.

[zetec]

whatever, I gave you guys the tools to find out for yourself and you're still stuck believing whatever you want. Go ask any economics or polisci major or teacher. They'll tell you the same thing.

Also, google the ripple effect, etc.

I really don't care to prove my point anymore than I already have.

[JRockTTU]

Since we've given the Iraq War 5 years to ...well, "work," how about we give the minimum wage increase 5 years before we bitch?

OH WAIT, forgot...unamerican to block free speech...as long as said free speech supports a certain point of view.

Got it.

What does that have to do with anything? Stop being a bleeding heart liberal.

[JRockTTU]

whatever, I gave you guys the tools to find out for yourself and you're still stuck believing whatever you want. Go ask any economics or polisci major or teacher. They'll tell you the same thing.

Also, google the ripple effect, etc.

I really don't care to prove my point anymore than I already have.

by "prove" you mean link some sites and articles that don't mention or prove your original point?

[griseyeux]

LOUD NOISES!!!!!