How will forced minimum wage increase affect economy next month?

Matt Collins

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Jun 9, 2007
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The unconstitutional minimum wage increase is being forced upon everyone next month. How do you think this will affect the economy?
 
More unemployment, lower profits for businesses that employ cheap labor...less investment spending, perhaps.
 
Nothing but good, poor people spend all their money rich people hoard theirs and never spend a dime. /end sarcasm
 
This

minimum-wage.jpg
 
I think that it will bring everyone (who is making above minimum wage) closer to the minimum wage.
 
If they are working full time, it will cost an employer another $28 a week or a bit over ten percent more (from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour- a 70 cent increase). Part time, less. In 2007, about two percent of the work force was paid the federal minimum wage. http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2007.htm Many states already have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum wage. As of January of this year, there were 12 states which had their minimum wage the same as the Federal one-
Idaho
Utah
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Texas
Indiana
Kentucky
North Carolina
Virginia
and Maryland.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm
 
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I don't think I saw it mentioned, but there will be a micro tick upward in price inflation. This will show up in the 3rd quarter reports, but likely won't be broken out of the overall number and will get little publicity. As mentioned, the effect of this will be mitigated by some unknown cutback in employees, and/or in combination with cutbacks in weekly hours worked.
 
I know what you're saying but the more they get the more they spend. Hell they just make numbers up and keep printing more cash.
 
I think a lot of small businesses (and some larger ones) are going to go out of business.

but yeah - employee downsizing, pay cuts to other employees, reduction in benefits, etc. and obviously price increases - so everyones money doesn't go as far.

-t
 
Definitely more unemployment; the best intentioned small business won't be able to keep up if its already struggling.
 
I certainly don't support the concept of minimum wage. Still, I don't think this will have much of an affect either way. As the dollar devalues and prices increase, supply and demand already forces wages up. As somebody pointed out above, many states already have a higher minimum.

Of course, this will put pressure on some businesses. ... anywhere that somebody's efforts are worth less than minimum wage.

Overall impact ... reasonably insignificant.
 
If you are in one of the states which do not have a higher minimum than the Federal miinimum wage and have ten full time employees at the minimum wage the increase will cost you $280 in profit a week (assuming you do not pass the increase on to your customers). Not really that much. Does it bring much benefit to minimum wage workers? Not much noticable change for them either. Maybe $20 a week after taxes.
 
Yes it will. At the ice cream shop i work at we had to raise prices and hire less people the next year after the minimum wage was increased to $7.something per hour here in Michigan. So, all the government did was lower the amount of people my employer was willing to hire the next year (its a seasonal business) which potentially increased unemployement (depending on whether they were able to work all year long, some do). Good job government, you just made it impossible for some good people to get jobs. Now they might have to go on unemployement.
 
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