If I banged my head against the wall every time politicians advocated bad policy in Washington – which is a tempting impulse, I would have been institutionalized because of brain damage a long time ago.
But it’s difficult to maintain my self control when I think about minimum wage laws.
All sentient human beings should know higher minimum wage laws will mean more unemployment. Just ask them, for instance, what would happen if the minimum wage was raised to $100 per hour. Once they admit that would lead to massive job losses, they’ve accepted the principle and it’s simply an empirical issue of figuring out how many jobs are lost when the minimum wage is $75, $50, $20, $10, $6, etc.
At the risk of stating the obvious, businesses seek to make money and they won’t hire somebody who can only produce $6 of value per hour if the government says that person has to be paid $7.25.
But there are those who nonetheless push for higher minimum wage requirements. I’ve previously provided six potential reasons why a person would support such a policy, three of which are because of cynicism and three of which are because of naiveté.
I strongly suspect Obama and his team are pushing for a higher minimum wage for the first reason, but it’s hard to even care. All that really matters is that people will suffer if the President succeeds.
And I’m not making a partisan point. Mitt Romney and George W. Bush had the same mentality.
Now, perhaps, you understand why this issue is so frustrating.
So let’s try to maintain our sanity by mocking these feckless and uncaring politicians.
Here are a couple of good cartoons on the topic, beginning with a clever contribution from Lisa Benson.
This Steve Breen cartoon makes the same point, showing how the poor are disadvantaged.
I also would recommend this video if you want to learn more about the minimum wage, and if you want to understand why this issue gets me very frustrated, check out this interview.
It’s especially perverse that politicians are pushing these policies when, as Walter Williams has explained, blacks and other minorities are among the biggest victims.
Last but not least, I’m a libertarian, which means that I’m motivated by morality as well as economic efficiency.
So I get equally upset that politicians think they should have the right to block a labor contract between consenting adults.
What gives them the right to tell other people that they can’t engage in non-coercive, non-violent exchange?
[…] when some workers aren’t earning much money, we’re the scoundrels who don’t want to boost the minimum […]
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[…] you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible […]
[…] some state and local politicians continue to mandate higher minimum wages (see here, here, here, and here), even though that means workers have fewer job […]
[…] minimum wage issue is a tragic example. If lawmakers pass a law mandating wages of $10 per hour, that is going to have a very bad […]
[…] some state and local politicians continue to mandate higher minimum wages (see here, here, here, and here), even though that means workers have […]
[…] goal should be to help people climb the ladder of economic opportunity, which is why the minimum wage should be abolished rather than […]
[…] goal should be to help people climb the ladder of economic opportunity, which is why the minimum wage should be abolished rather than […]
[…] minimum wage issue is a tragic example. If lawmakers pass a law mandating wages of $10 per hour, that is going to have a very bad […]
[…] On the lighter side, here are some good cartoon on the minimum wage from Steve Breen, Lisa Benson and Henry […]
[…] minimum wage issue is a tragic example. If lawmakers pass a law mandating wages of $10 per hour, that is going to have a very bad […]
[…] Minimum Wage Laws: Sabotaging the Ladder of Economic Opportunity […]
[…] If you want more memes and cartoons about the minimum wage, click here, here, here, here, […]
[…] If you want more memes and cartoons about the minimum wage, click here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] If you want more memes and cartoons about the minimum wage, click here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] some state and local politicians continue to mandate higher minimum wages (see here, here, here, and here), even though that means workers have […]
[…] you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible […]
[…] On the lighter side, here are some good cartoon on the minimum wage from Steve Breen, Lisa Benson and Henry […]
[…] On the lighter side, here are some good cartoon on the minimum wage from Steve Breen, Lisa Benson and Henry […]
[…] you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible […]
[…] On the lighter side, here are some good cartoon on the minimum wage from Steve Breen, Lisa Benson and Henry […]
[…] you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible […]
[…] you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible […]
[…] you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible […]
[…] some state and local politicians continue to mandate higher minimum wages (see here, here, here, and here), even though that means workers have fewer job […]
[…] P.P.S. You can enjoy additional cartoons on the minimum wage by clicking here and here. […]
[…] minimum wage issue is a tragic example. If lawmakers pass a law mandating wages of $10 per hour, that is going to have a very bad effect […]
[…] If you want some minimum-wage themed humor, you can enjoy cartoons here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible […]
[…] you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible […]
[…] you don’t understand this, just do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if the minimum wage was $100 per hour. The answer is terrible […]
This comes as no surprise.
[…] also the cost of taxes, regulations, and mandates. This is why policies that sometimes sound nice (higher minimum wages, health insurance mandates, etc) actually are very […]
Minimum wage is a barrier to full time employment.
[…] also the cost of taxes, regulations, and mandates. This is why policies that sometimes sound nice (higher minimum wages, health insurance mandates, etc) actually are very […]
[…] also the cost of taxes, regulations, and mandates. This is why policies that sometimes sound nice (higher minimum wages, health insurance mandates, etc) actually are very […]
[…] also the cost of taxes, regulations, and mandates. This is why policies that sometimes sound nice (higher minimum wages, health insurance mandates, etc) actually are very […]
[…] The proposal for a higher minimum wage would make it harder for low-skilled people to climb the economic ladder. […]
[…] The proposal for a higher minimum wage would make it harder for low-skilled people to climb the economic ladder. […]
[…] Cartoon: Lisa Benson, shown at danieljmitchell.wordpress.com […]
[…] the underlying reason why minimum wages are bad? We know they lead to bad effects such as higher unemployment, particularly for vulnerable […]
[…] to Mr. Sajak. Too bad there are so many politicians (including many Republicans) who don’t understand that higher minimum wages mean fewer jobs […]
[…] to Mr. Sajak. Too bad there are so many politicians (including many Republicans) who don’t understand that higher minimum wages mean fewer jobs […]
[…] On a lighter note, here are a couple of additional clever cartoons illustrating the negative impact of minimum-wage […]
[…] On a lighter note, here are a couple of additional clever cartoons illustrating the negative impact of minimum-wage […]
[…] I could cite lots of other examples on issues such as the minimum wage, health care, housing, and […]
[…] I could cite lots of other examples on issues such as the minimum wage, health care, housing, and […]
[…] On the lighter side, here are some good cartoon on the minimum wage from Steve Breen, Lisa Benson and Henry […]
[…] On the lighter side, here are some good cartoon on the minimum wage from Steve Breen, Lisa Benson and Henry […]
[…] politicians from practicing free-lunch economics. They tell us, for instance, that government can impose a higher minimum wage with no job […]
“The rise of Obama’s communism”
By Noureddine Krichene:
an interesting read…
http://atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/GECON-02-250214.html
[…] was just going through an article: Minimum Wage Laws: Sabotaging the Ladder of Economic Opportunity . I thought this is just the issue we go through many of the times, motivating me to write this […]
The central theme and overall trajectory of the American voter-lemming herd remains the same: Labor participation (i.e. people’s motivation to work and produce, i.e. national competitiveness) is dropping and the general plan of the voter-lemming majority is to address the problem by further flattening the effort-reward curve. We are in the pivotal phase of a textbook irreversible scenario to decline.
So, losing competitiveness in the world? Increase the minimum wage, more pay for the same amount and quality of work, and also hand out other massive freebies to incentivize people to work less. Can you see why the tipping point has passed? Lack of competitiveness has come full circle and the voter-lemmings are now experiencing the predictable lowering of their standard of living. They are stressing out, so they are now flocking to the polls to recapture the losses by increasing the minimum wage. The vicious cycle has closed. An avalanche of self-destructive cycles has been unleashed.
So there is already a two percent labor participation reduction baked into the ObamaCare cake — which BTW will turn out to be much higher, just like the cost and overall demotivation to work impact — and we are proceeding with further plans to reduce demand for labor.
Apparently, most Americans think they have plenty of advantage margin left compared to the next group of most competitive nations in the world. They calculate that they can afford to spend some of that margin to flatten the domestic effort-reward curve a bit more, and make life a little easier for Americans, while keeping the American population in the top ten percent of worldwide prosperity. In reality, not only there is no margin left, but the critical point has passed and we are now living the few short years of momentum. Momentum accumulated from the past, as well as small international perks that once harder working Americans accumulated, like the fact that the dollar established itself as the most credible currency to be used in international trade. These small perks are now being cashed in and destroyed by printing money. These perks, as well as the shot lived momentum will soon run out. What will then voter-lemmimgs do? Regurgitate overnight ten years of HopNChange in order to return to competitiveness?
You look at the trajectory and the vicious cycle unfolding and make a decision for yourself. Those who do not prepare for America’s decline will be in for a very tough ride.
Changes in the minimum wage do next to nothing. Wealth and liquidity are not the same thing. Raising the minimum wage only increases the liquidity of the perceived value of an hour’s work. Workers are not getting paid for an extra 20-25 minutes worth of work, rather the value of their hour is being divided into 1010 individual units of liquidity rather than 725 units. The people this will hurt the most are individuals whose hour is valued between 1010 and 726 units of liquidity, since their additional ‘worth’ beyond that base hour is erased.
All that would happen if the minimum wage were raised to $100 per hour is we’d essentially see pricing like in Japans and would likely drop decimal places in payment and prices. We might have a $10 menu. Until the minimum wage becomes $725, and things would look like they do today, just with the decimal place moved.
There are studies out showing how most businesses don’t object to a higher minimum wage. However, those businesses probably don’t have many minimum wage employees. Companies that do most likely cater to low income clients. Raising the minimum wage will raise cost and prices, if they can continue to operate. If they can stay open, service will probably suffer.
The poor will suffer from a trifecta of higher unemployment, higher costs, and reduced service.
Karl Marx explained 150 years ago that businesses have huge power and vast resources, and that wages are progressively driven down until there is both too much production and those wages are too low to buy anything. The Marxist view is that we are all doomed to starve amid piles of plenty, unless the Revolution of Government can save us (change we can believe in).
Team Obama is merely applying this Marxist truth. All respected economists agree, really. Only kooks and the running-dog servants of the imperialists believe anything different, just as they deny climate change.
For those who mistrust Marx, there is Keynesianism (Marx-lite) which even power-hungry Republicans can recommend. Simply put, everything will be OK if the government collects more taxes (now or later) to buy things now, benefiting the working man and buying down those large piles of overproduced goods, such as cheap large-screen TVs.
Really, this is all a version of Bonnie and Clyde’ism. Everybody loves it when B&C are spending their loot and leaving big tips. You merely have to ignore those brief instances where they are stealing the wealth from the banks, from people who we shall ignore, and hope that they are all fat cats who deserve to be stolen from.
Thank Gaia that we have men in government, led by the non-ideological Obama, who can apply these time honored(*) principles of social justice and economics to bring us the prosperity of Russia, Greece, Spain, France, Cuba, and Venezuela, and make Marx proud again.
(*) Marx’s theories haven’t worked out so well, so far, but do not despair. This time, with better politicians and much more wealth to start with, we are going to do better, and keep trying until we get it right.
I think many liberals simply do not understand the concept that raising the minimum wage will kill jobs. They think it is a Republican talking point designed to protect the wealthy. Better illustrations of why jobs get lost are necessary. For instance, with the increase from $7.25 to $10.10, a business owner with 10 full-time minimum wage employees, would face an annual total wage increase of $57,000. For many such business owners, that amount could represent his/her entire bottom line.
I understand that many union contracts use the the minimum wage as a baseline. I posit that this pandering is all about pleasing unions, not helping “the poor.”
Reblogged this on Public Secrets and commented:
The only people who truly benefit from minimum wage increases are union bosses, who salivate at the prospect of more dues coming in, money they can use to buy legislators.
Need a two tier system and a third option, to “opt out”; under 20 years old minimum, and an above 20 years old minimum, plus, allow a worker to option out of the minimum “rule” and accept a lower wage. Make the playing field competitive for a true need and acceptance of a wage. Just like contractors bid for a job….etc
Government has a three-step program to help American taxpayers!
1. Bend over.
2. Grab your ankles.
3. Kiss your azz goodbye.