Do we Really Need a Minimum Wage?

[SilentBull]

I created this video recently. Share it with open-minded people. There is more to come.

 

[Zippyjuan]

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about five percent of people get paid the Federal minimum wage or less.
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2009.htm

The percentage of workers earning the minimum wage did not vary much across the major race and ethnicity groups. About 5 percent of white, black, and Hispanic hourly-paid workers earned the Federal minimum wage or less. Among Asian hourly-paid workers, about 4 percent earned the minimum wage or less.

 

[RCA]

Do we Really Need a Minimum Wage State? Fixed to make worth discussing.

 

[iamse7en]

Logikal: that was hilarious. I was skeptical when it first started to load, but that was fabulous. I laughed several times, and it was extremely clear in teaching the simple economic principle. Thank you!

 

[Keith and stuff]

One of the 53+ liberty bills that became a law in NH this year addresses this issue.
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?283949-NH-House-passes-bill-to-end-NH-minimum-wage

 

[MJU1983]

Nice! I enjoyed that.

 

[SilentBull]

Logikal: that was hilarious. I was skeptical when it first started to load, but that was fabulous. I laughed several times, and it was extremely clear in teaching the simple economic principle. Thank you!

Thanks

 

[Seraphim]

I'm not worried about how many people earn minimum wage - I'm concerned about how many are pushed out of the marketplace because of it.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about five percent of people get paid the Federal minimum wage or less.
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2009.htm

 

[fisharmor]

I can't watch the video, but does it show which section of the Constitution authorizes federal minimum wage laws?
Utilitarian arguments are nice, but when the people who make the rules don't follow the rules, it encourages us plebs not to follow any of the rules.

 

[cindy25]

Hong Kong and Singapore, which have the highest wages in Asia, have no minimum wage; the income level far exceeds Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

 

[wannaberocker]

I actually work part time and i earn min wage. But yeah we dont really need it.

 

[Acala]

The issue of minimum wage is really a good litmus test for economic ignorance. It is virtually impossible to defend the minimum wage with reason.

 

[nicoleeann]

besides being anti-freedom the minimum wage has these drawbacks:
limits employment opportunities for the lowest educated and skilled people
limits employment for senior citizens who want a hobby type job
limits chances for apprenticeship and learning type jobs, which i believe are very important
higher minimum wages means longer time between and less raises for those who deserve them
increased unemployment due to less money in wages pool

 

[erowe1]

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about five percent of people get paid the Federal minimum wage or less.
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2009.htm

That's not true. The number of people making less than the minimum wage because they're unemployed is far greater than that.

 

[oyarde]

No

 

[AGRP]

Good video. Probably could have addressed people who are forced to work "under the table" as well.

 

[TomtheTinker]

Do we Really Need a Minimum Wage?

No

 

[DamianTV]

Unfortunately, without a Free Market system, I think we need it as a result of lack of competition. If things were the way they were supposed to be, then we wouldnt need any sort of government intervention, but they have everything so mucked up that if companies could get away with paying absolutely nothing (which is pretty damn near what we have right now, internship jobs that never turn into full jobs) they would just enslave people for absolutely free. Minimum wage should be one of those laws that goes away after we've fixed everything else, and it would go away because it would be irrelevant, like laws on how to tie your horses, etc.

 

[TCE]

The issue of minimum wage is really a good litmus test for economic ignorance. It is virtually impossible to defend the minimum wage with reason.

I remember Stossel having a show on this a couple months ago and he said virtually all economists he spoke to, Keynesian or not, understood that raising the minimum wage increases overall unemployment. So the economists do understand this correlation, Main Street doesn't. As an experiment, the federal government should lower the minimum wage down to $6.75, $0.50 less than the current one, and see how unemployment, especially among teens, drops. Wishful thinking, of course.

The argument is always, "companies would pay their workers $2.00 or less an hour and everyone would have to take it or leave it, look at China."

 

[DamianTV]

China isnt exactly a Free Market Economy either. They are being propped up by the US borrowing as much as it does from China.