Comments on: Why Minimum Wage Laws Should Be killed

By: bweaver

bweaver — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:00:17 +0000

Bravo John! It’s refreshing to hear someone talk about the minimum wage and put some logic behind it. Politicians use minimum wage rhetoric to buy votes, and couldn’t care less about the people they claim to be helping. Like taxes, minimum wage increases have a negative effect on businesses and can only hurt employees and customers.

I’ve worked at and below the minimum wage, even as an adult, and though I was happy to have a job, I decided low wages were not for me and found better-paying jobs. So, success was my decision, not a government program.

Again, bravo. And thanks.

By: Why Minimum Wage Laws Should Be killed - Part 2 | John Chow dot Com

Why Minimum Wage Laws Should Be killed - Part 2 | John Chow dot Com — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 04:17:10 +0000

[...] is really more of an update to my minimum wage law post than a part 2. I want to thank everyone for weighing in with their views. It was extremely [...]

By: Mat

Mat — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 04:16:47 +0000

Economic fact is that as soon as minimum wage laws are abolished, historically, wages rise. For the poor too.

When the government determines the value of the worker it removes initiative to negotiate for themselves or collectivise. By removing the responsibility from the employee and shifting it to obscure law, the employee is less empowered and simply accepts the crappy wage.

When minimum wage laws are removed, the LACK of a safety net is what spurs people into action and forces them to create a new bargaining position.

In Australia until recently there were three systems - Government set minimum wages for certain industries, union-negotiated awards for others, and employee-negotiated.

In ALL instances the employee negotiated salaries are the highest and the government set salaries are the lowest.

By: Mat

Mat — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 04:10:47 +0000

Jeff I have been arguing that to my pure liberal buddies - unions form part of a supply and demand free market. They don’t like this.

By: Debo Hobo

Debo Hobo — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 07:25:30 +0000

Min. wage keeps the less fortunate from being exploited financially. I raised my child and I on min. wage for many years. It is doable. The problems begin when the old adage comes in to play—“the more you make the more you spend”—when I started making well above the min. wage and went salary that is when debt sets in because then you have to keep up with the Jones’ & the Chows’.

I think the min. wage laws are very worthwhile and should remain in place.

By: Freebies

Freebies — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:59:27 +0000

You’re assuming the company won’t fire the sub-par employee because there isn’t a large labor pool to find a replacement, which is categorically wrong. Finding a MW worker is like trying to find a blade of grass in your front yard. It’s not that hard (granted, as long as you have a front yard :))

If the sub-par worker is performing below his duties while the good burger flipper is working well, the company can easily fire the crappy worker, MW laws or not. You seem to completely overlook the fact that companies are free to fire at will.

By: Freebies

Freebies — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:50:55 +0000

Feel good stories are great, but the vast majority of people living off MW jobs have no idea what they’re worth or how to leverage their skills to get a raise or how to even negotiate for a raise. These people are the uneducated folks of society, but far too many of them think (wrongly) that there’s nothing they can do about their situation. A little education goes a long way.

By: Freebies

Freebies — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:47:34 +0000

Yeah, I know what you’re trying to say June, but it’s not as cut and dry as that.

By: Freebies

Freebies — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:44:29 +0000

Ah, then that is where we begin to diverge on opinions, John. If you look at most low-income families in the US, the reason they are in the low econimical class is because they are trying to live off MW while they work as hotel maids or cashiers or waitresses. (Remember, there’s a huge difference between working as a waitress at an Olive Garden type (family restaurant where tips are decent) versus a truck stop diner (where you’re lucky to come in at $6/hr after you factor in tips).

Like I said, check out the book I mentioned upthread where the author tries to live off MW jobs for I think it was three or four months. The numbers are absolutely astounding as to how many people actually live off MW. There are far more people doing it than there are high school kids just making some extra spending cash for the weekend.

By: F1 Wolf

F1 Wolf — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:55:16 +0000

Excellent … Minimum wage harms those it should be protecting… Whatever the minimum wage laws, there will always be people who are paid less, ilegally… I am convinced that even the people who make the minimu wage decisions know it makes no sense. But it makes them look good and gets them re-elected.