General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "$15/hr will kill small businesses" is this true? [View all]MineralMan
(146,284 posts)As such, they play into setting prices for your goods and services, just as the wholesale cost of what you sell does. If everyone must pay $15/hr. wages, that will be calculated by all businesses into their pricing structures. So, yes, prices will go up, overall. However, if everyone is earning $15/hr. they will be able to buy more stuff, which balances the whole thing out.
Wealthy people generally spend only a fraction of what they earn. They tend to invest the rest. People on minimum wage generally spend 100% of what they earn. Because of that, increasing the minimum wage will lead to more spending and more profits for businesses.
Opposition to a $15 minimum wage is short-term thinking on the part of business owners. They are looking at their balance sheets and seeing that their profits, if everything else stays the same, will go down. They are not doing the math to see what level of price increase will be needed to maintain their profits, nor are they looking at the potential increase in revenues from people spending more money.
Small businesses, in particular, are often guilty of short-term thinking.