Should we increase the minimum wage?

The only way poverty will truly be ended is if the people choose to do it. The more the government tries to end it by taxing and redistributing income, the more people resent it and the less likely that they will give to the less privilidged. Also, the huge negitive impacts on the economy will hurt everybody.

I think relying on the goodness of people is much less of a pipe dream than relying on beaurocratic unaccountable system that is excessivly ineffecient and already proven to be ineffectve.

I think relying on the goodness of people is much less of a pipe dream than relying on beaurocratic unaccountable system that is excessivly ineffecient and already proven to be ineffectve

Have always been intrigued by a heavy sales tax. It'll never happen, though. The politics of it are deadly: discourage consumption? Not on your life.

Correct Roger. I live in an area where wages are pretty low compared to most of the rest of the country and cost of living is pretty high compared to a lot of the rest of the country - a double whammy.

Every time we have a wage case here to increase the minimum wage, employers cry poor. "It will cost job" is the old line they trot out every time. NOT ONCE has the unemployment level risen after a wage rise.

BTW, the minimum wage in Australia is roughly double that of the US. I don't believe our cost of living is even close to being double of the US. [/b]

It's also naive to assume that as demand goes up, so would prices. In the modern economy, more demand implies more production, more competition and more jobs.

Keep in mind, I'm not talking about limited goods like gold and silver. I'm talking about products, which we can make as many as neccesary to meet demand simply by expanding and hiring more people.

I'm curious Foxfyre, have you seen the stats on how much people actually donate to charity. How about the stats on how much donations increased following Bush's tax cuts.

Libertarians and republicans love to argue that charities could ever come close to govt. aid because americans are so benevolent. They love to argue that cutting taxes will increase charitable contributions.

Why do they insist on ignoring the information out there on this that completely flies in the face of these unfounded claims?

People make almost as much on welfare as they would working 60 hrs a week at a minimum wage job. Either way they barely have enough to live. But in one way, they get insurance and don't have to do any work. The other way, they have to work hard and still would be sunk if they had healthcare needs.

It's easy to see why so many people choose to remain on welfare rather than go out and work. They have little to gain and almost everything to lose.

They would be doing a lot better and leading a better life if they go into crime. And that's why people opt to do so inspite of the risks involved.

If with hard work, people could actually live a half way decent life, maybe more would opt to do so.

That's why we need to increase the wage without hurting businesses.

Also like Roger points out, minimum wage jobs typically go for work such as flipping burgers at McDonalds or cleaning rooms at Motel 6. They can't outsource this work to do it any cheaper even if minimum wage was to go up.

Trickle down economics doesn't work. Companies don't hire people just because they have extra money lying around. They hire people because they need to hire them to do work. And extra money they have will go into their own pockets and increasing how much money they get to keep only fattens their pockets. It doesn't increase jobs.

Demand is what increases jobs. When poor people make more and can afford to buy more, this increases demand for products.

Thus companies need to open more factories and hire more workers to meet demand and cash in on it. And that's exactly what they do.

Trickle up economics does work, trickle down economics doesn't.

Trickle up economics IS market forces. As lower income individuals get a higher living standard, spending increases and so does business profit.

Unlike the trickle down economics that Reagan and Bush have blown trillions of our revenue on, trickle up economics has been proven to work in developing Asian countries that now have both a much larger middle class and a greater revenue.

There has never been controversy over the assertion that increased demand leads to increased growth, economic output, and revenue. And there is even more evidence that increasing standard of living for the lower class increases demand.

This is the very basis for market growth.

I challenge anyone to prove this basic economic and logical prinicple wrong.

Ask any economist, what happens when minimum wage workers who can't make ends meet start getting a living wage. They will tell you that that demand for several goods and services will go up.

Now ask them what happens when demand goes up. They will tell you that jobs go up, wages go up, profits go up, and competition and corporate expansion goes up.