Any stats as to what happened to employment and/or the economy after the minimum wage was last raised?

Any stats as to what happened to employment and/or the economy after the minimum wage was last raised?

 

There are plenty....however, (not that I want to defend the increase) but there are a lot of variables as you know. First off, prior to the 2007 increase unemployment had stayed below 5% for something like 20 years. Since the increase it has been closer to 10%. But, of course, the economy plunged into recesssion, etc. etc. so one cannot make a direct correlation on the aggregate between the minimum wage and unemployment. That is why I tried to give a real life example above.

I'm not behind the idea of raising minimum wage to offset the increased COL. We have ways to provide for food and even shelter for those who are in need. But I think people are trying to live a Ruth's Chris life on a McDonald budget, that's a lot of the problem. It's a consumer driven economy, and people feel like they will be "accepted" if they have nicer, better things like some of their counter-parts do. This is a problem for people regardless of what party they are apart of, it had become a MAJOR problem in today's society. You have to pick and choose what to spend your money on when situations are tight. People just need to accept the fact they will not always live the lives of kings and queens.

 

I think the government does there job pretty well with giving everyone the a somewhat equal opportunity to accomplish "the American dream." Kids get a free public education, and have access to education loans supplied by the government at what I think is a reasonable interest rate. I think kids who want to go to college and better themselves should get the chance to do so, in the end it should better the economy. But in all reality technology is cutting jobs faster than anything, IMO this is area needs to be addressed.

 

Not sure anything I just wrote is on topic, but wanted to give my two cents.

A LOT of service jobs START people at minimum wage and they can earn their way up. I own such a company. I bought it when the minimum wage was $6.00 per hour. When it increased 20% to $7.25 I could not charge more for our services, and people didn't work any harder. So, I take it in the shorts. Now, I can't afford an extra hour of excess capacity, so I have to keep headcount down from what it was. If it goes to $9.00 per hour, I will have to close the doors period...the business is no longer viable and 15 good people who probably can't get jobs, at least most of them, elsewhere because of mistakes in their past will go on government support. Because if the base moves up, how am I not going to move up the pay of the people who have been loyal, showed up for work and earned their way to a greater than minimum wage (+ they get tips)? The people that are proposing a higher minimum wage are not based in the economic reality of running a service business.

 

Forget about going to a department store, grocery or anything else and expect service in the future, because businesses will not be able to afford it.

 

So, raising costs with no increase in productivity can only be made up by an increase in pricing for a business to stay viable. If the prices cannot be raised due to a poor economy, competition, etc., the cost increase will lead to greater unemployment. It's only logical.

 

You are right, it's just common sense.

I'm not behind the idea of raising minimum wage to offset the increased COL. We have ways to provide for food and even shelter for those who are in need. But I think people are trying to live a Ruth's Chris life on a McDonald budget, that's a lot of the problem. It's a consumer driven economy, and people feel like they will be "accepted" if they have nicer, better things like some of their counter-parts do. This is a problem for people regardless of what party they are apart of, it had become a MAJOR problem in today's society. You have to pick and choose what to spend your money on when situations are tight. People just need to accept the fact they will not always live the lives of kings and queens.

 

I think the government does there job pretty well with giving everyone the a somewhat equal opportunity to accomplish "the American dream." Kids get a free public education, and have access to education loans supplied by the government at what I think is a reasonable interest rate. I think kids who want to go to college and better themselves should get the chance to do so, in the end it should better the economy. But in all reality technology is cutting jobs faster than anything, IMO this is area needs to be addressed.

 

Not sure anything I just wrote is on topic, but wanted to give my two cents.

 

Good post. Regarding technology, I have made a living out of analysis of make/buy, produce/outsource, and labor versus technology. When the wages go up without a corresponding improvement in output, technology ie. automation becomes more feasible. My goal has always been to grow a business with the benefit of putting more people to work in a satisfying environment. That is how I get my satisfaction. That is becoming increasingly difficult.