Bernie/Warren + Democrats - Please stop your rhetorics & start speaking the truth
As of the start of the year, 19 U.S. states had raised minimum wages, dramatizing a long simmering debate: Do minimum wages kill jobs, and make the working class worse off in the end? Or do they simply make them a little richer, with little or no loss to overall employment? In a new paper, economists Grace Lordan of the London School of Economics and David Neumark of UC Irvine parse 35 years of census data and come down on the worse-off side: For lower-skill jobs like bookkeepers and assembly-line workers, they say, higher minimum wages encourage employers to automate – according to their calculations, a $1 increase can cost tens of thousands of jobs nationally.
Here’s what happened in Seattle according to a UofW study
The city’s escalating minimum wage has meant a slight increase in pay among workers earning up to $19 per hour, but the hours worked in such jobs have shrunk, a study commissioned by the city found. It estimates there would be 5,000 more such jobs without the Seattle law.
But the UW researchers did conclude that, for low-wage restaurant workers, the law cost them work hours. (Specifically, though the actual number of hours worked by low-wage restaurant workers in Seattle increased a slight 0.1 percent from the second quarters of 2014 to 2016, the researchers’ “synthetic Seattle” model showed that if the minimum wage law hadn’t been in effect, there would have been an 11.1 percent increase in hours for those workers.)
However according to our own University of Berkeley
Seattle’s minimum-wage law has led to higher pay for restaurant workers without affecting the overall number of jobs in the industry, according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley.
That’s because customers don’t want to accept higher prices. So they’ll either buy less or look for a cheaper alternative.
I think the UW study found the number of workers didn’t change, but the hours worked did. People get paid more per hour, but they work less hours. They aren’t any better off financially, but they get a little extra free time.
The issue is neither solution provides the people a livable wage. That was part of the reason for the fight for $15. People said it’d be a livable wage (obviously not in the bay area). The problem is it’s not a livable wage if hours are reduced so take home pay is the same.
The intention of jacking min wage to $15 from the gov is to inflate everything, so people will get less subsidize from gov and the 20 tril debt won’t look so big anymore.
I think a mild increase say from 10 to 11 will not change much. Owners can either absorb the cost, pass it over to the customers, or a combination of both. But if it’s a sudden big jump say from 10 to 15 all bets are off.
The state-wide jump to $15 for the entire state of California is a very bad idea.
Everybody has “paper work”. As an employer it’s best to apply the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Give me your paper work and I will believe it.
The solution to the hours-getting-reduced problem is very simple. Just pass a “minimum hour” law and problem solved.
It would apply because as legal worker costs go up, illegal worker “under the table” worker demand will go up & over the years their pay/hr will also go up.
Overall average legal worker pay will always be higher than illegal for the same occupation in the same geographical area.
This will be bad for minority owned business and good for Caucasian owned business. I see the ethnic restaurant price is going up and not competitive against the restaurant chains. Less people will get Mexican or Chinese food when BJ’s selling at the same price
Raising minimum wage is anti immigrant in its effect. This is Bernie’s favorite policy. It seems that Bernie is anti immigrant and anti minority secretly. Maybe it explains why Bernie only got white votes
I love the minimum wage hikes…Every dollar increase means another $100/m in my pocket for my apartments in Sacramento. … figure a $1000/m apartment can be increased $100/m for each $1/hr raise…My tenants will have more money and nowhere else to go…Similarly I can raise the rents on my $2000/m houses $200/ month…In reality I only raise existing tenants at half that rate…but 5% a year increases add up quick…Plus I have high turnover especially in Tahoe…vacant apartments go at market rent…still going up 15% a year…
This all works great till the next recession. …But even then there will still be a housing shortage. …
BTW, nobody works for min wage in the BA…defacto min wage for day labor is $20/hr for illegal immigrants. …
In Tahoe it is $12…so the min wage increase is the tail wagging the dog…Wages are going up, no matter what they law says…
Raising wages from 10 to 15 dollars means my rental properties will gain 50% in value, without any effort on my part…Thank you for this generous gift from the Democratic machine…They just love to give away other people’s money…Just glad some is coming my way…lol
I am always combative when it comes to see you guys mumbling jumbling about illegal immigration. Stop diverting the topics to that tough subject because you may end up in my cross hairs, and it wont be funny. I may know a few things more than you, by own experience, not talking, but in real time:sweat_smile:
But I am going to tell you what I see. Lots of posting on FB about jobs cutting this, harvesting that and they are serious about offering big bucks to do the job. I see the guys complaining and stating they won’t work for $11/hr. A competitive wage is $14+, cash. $11 with benefits through a union with “papers” are the norm. Some posters argue they need them ASAP but not enough applicants. Why?
I know also, a few companies in the valley hiring upwards of 1500 for a seasonal job, but they keep 500 permanently and I suspect most are illegal workers. I know also the crops are rotting, not enough people applying for the job, we lazy Americans, and fear of deportation and people leaving this racist country, it is a known fact.
I don’t see In and Out, the burger place suffering. They pay $14.50 to start. And with the due respect, I think it is stupid to be arguing about if this much or that much is discouraging employers or not. If you want to make a buck, you enter the race or just shut up. By the way, I missed to copy and paste this article where hundreds if not thousands of chain restaurants are closing now or pretty soon, nothing to do with wages.
When it comes to automation, that’s happening no matter what. I don’t know if the government is giving incentives or not. If they do, and even if they don’t, eventually your real estate in those areas is going to suffer when machines kick out the seasonal or permanent illegal or legal workers.
So, now you know why I said in the beginning it wouldn’t be funny.
