General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Can someone answer my question about the minimum-wage hike? [View all]eniwetok
(1,629 posts)Are you suggesting that there is NO economic force that EVER can disrupt the economy?
Show me ANY OECD nation that has a MW as high as $15 in terms of parity purchasing power. I posted the numbers elsewhere. The highest nation was Luxembourg at $11.20 US. Yet you think we can magically more than double MW... in what, 5 years, and there will be absolutely NO negative consequences ANYWHERE?
IT'S NEVER BEEN DONE. The fastest we ever raised the MW was to double it in ten years... and that was at a time when we had a protectionist economy and strong unions. They acted to pull wages up. Today business can outsource jobs, or bring in cheap imports, or automate. And they've always been able to cut hours and lay people off. The economy has become addicted to a depreciating MW. So we have to both get rid of free trade with cheap labor nations... and rebuild the union movement.
I'm sorry you think that such a reality check is appealing to fear.