CombatEffective - This madness must stop!

I had three thoughts as I read the article from Capitolist Mag.

84% of all statistics are made up.

Calling the other side's argument a myth is usually a leftist tactic.

Haven't we discussed this before?

TRex

Yes we did discuss this some time ago.
In April.
(see why forums are better :-)

On Minimum Wage

Also as I was reading some articles, I noticed that places that have minimum wage (New Zeland, England, and the US) are nice places to live. Places without minimum wage (Niger, Congo, Mexico, Chili) are not so nice places to live.

Give pause for thought. I think there are some long term effects that are not obviouse to people who do shallow research (Like Capitol Mag, Ayn Rand, and Cato Institute). Things like "Unemployment gives them time and motivation to get better skills and education."

TRex

In the early 70's I made min wage had a wife and infant son. We had a very small one bed cittage, I owned a car and we ate well and I had my necessities but not a lot more and I always had to have a side job. Today min wage and a side job will not gurantee even necessities. OIne mistake in the rtoad and the DMV will have your dinner or suspend your license and the IRS will call you two working people and tax you accordingly for haveing that side job.

The satye and fed will give you entitlements though. One hand loves and protects you and the other slaps the shit out of you. Love it. If a person works full time the should earn a livable wage in this nation. We have history to show how the working class is vied by those that have or controll the money supply. And we have existing markets that are protected yet the wage market is flooded with legal and illegal immigrants that preserve the low wage of the unskilled. BTW. If the unskilled laborer is so unimportant how many small business would collapse overnight without their services. No on ehas a right to suceed on anothers back and I do not believe we will all give up and roll over and die if we have to pay a fair wage to an employee.

The only rational start is to eliminate the illegal, controll immigration and protect the employment market just as all other markets are protected from invasion.

I won't pretend to know what the ideal is for minimum wage. I know over the years, the poverty line has moved to include things like a microwave and air conditioning. I suspect this reflects the eroding of survival skills (like cooking) among the impoverished.

I found a site that shows what the minimum wage has been since 1955 and it's equivilant 1996 dollars each year. (I suppose they use the "consumer price index," which, while flawed is at least fairly good.)

I do know if the work week is too short, and the minimum wage is too high, it will become a drag on the economy. OTOH, I know that without minimum conditions and wages enforced by law against the royal government bodies called corporations, wholesale exploitation of worker will quickly get out of hand and the country as a whole will suffer.

Somewhere there is a balance between fairness to the worker and fairness to the capitolist society that seems to be optimal. The US is not too far from that balance, but I don't know precisely where it is.

TRex