A nationwide $15 dollar minimum wage is harmful and dumb. We should advocate wage subsidies and UBI. [View all]

[Casprings]

Last edited Sun Jul 23, 2017, 06:14 PM - Edit history (1)

First a 15 dollar an hour minimum wage is dumb. Two basic reasons.

1. The whole country isn't San Francisco. If you pass a 15 dollar an wage, you will destroy economies in places like West Virgina, where you be pushing the minimum yearly salary close to the current average income. This will kill the job market and all sorts of unexpected consequences. Heck in Seattle, raising it $15 hurt economic growth in a study commissioned by Seattle itself:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/06/26/new-study-casts-doubt-on-whether-a-15-minimum-wage-really-helps-workers/?utm_term=.9bce08b1918d

In it, they find that employers have cut their payrolls, are putting off new hiring, reducing hours or letting their workers go.

If that is what happens in a city with strong economic growth, what the hell is going to happen in West Virgina?

2. The policy is going to kill small business and favor large corporations. The profit margins for large corporations is often much high and they can afford to reallocate more money for payroll. Small employers cannot.

With both of the reasons, if you are going to have a minimum wage hike, you should target it to areas that have economic growth and to large employers.

However, I think there is a better solution, if we agree that the problem is the poor do not have enough resources to live. A Universal basic income and wage subsidies would directly get money into the hands of the poor and also generate economic growth.