State of the Union

[Raavak]

Originally Posted by Ecguy [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The point isn't that it's arbitrary. The point is that when a wage is mandated it has other consequences besides simply increasing the amount of money some people make.

Increasing minimum wage doesn't increase the amount of money available to pay people, so the whole concept sucks. And Econ 101 shows us that minimum wage causes a surplus in available labor. Its nothing more than a political ploy... it works because most people don't understand the concept in my first sentence. All money comes from Obama's stash, amirite?

[Lune]

Originally Posted by Raavak [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Increasing minimum wage doesn't increase the amount of money available to pay people, so the whole concept sucks. And Econ 101 shows us that minimum wage causes a surplus in available labor. Its nothing more than a political ploy... it works because most people don't understand the concept in my first sentence. All money comes from Obama's stash, amirite?

As much as economics loves to pretend it's a real science up there with physics and chemistry, in reality it's just a filthy fucking mongrel somewhere between the other social sciences and real ones. So I wouldn't put much stock in some symbolic assessment of how they think minimum wage interacts with pure, hypothetical, or historical systems that are muddled with variables and complexities they are wholly incapable of properly accounting for.

Many of the economies who do far better than us (Not larger, better: Less inequality and poverty, more happiness and social mobility, higher per capita wealth) have dramatically higher wages for even their most unskilled workers, along with lower unemployment.

Part of the idea is to put cash back in the hands of perennially cash-strapped Americans who, in the last decade, have watched wages shrink and economic opportunity decline. People without money can't buy homes, or any of the other innumerable horseshit that drives our pig economy. (Note that one of the factors leading up to the bursting of the housing bubble in 2007 was the sustained, astronomical increase in the price of petroleum that sucked absurd amounts of cash out of every family and business in the United States, and catalyzed the crash like a needle popping a bubble).

This is one of the reasons the Obama and Bush administrations have pushed (ineffectually) to reduce oil consumption. It's because the moment our economy starts booming again, we will see a commensurate increase in the price and consumption of petroleum that will temper economic growth and act as a 'soft cap' on the extent to which our economy can thrive. We're lucky domestic production has increased so much, but it won't do much good in the long run.

[hatelore]

Fuckin dumb president is dumb. We have American's who can't find work, and this lying sack of shit sits on tv talkin about the poor innocent illegals who broke the law, and how we should give them citizenship and give them our jobs too.

And what, 3% of the population gives a shit about illegal people who aren't supposed to be here getting citizenship??? Its a travesty in itself, I made my wife turn that bunk shit off my tv~

[Emsee]

Hope he exclaims Republicans are illegal and should be shot on sight.

[Laok]

Because of obamacare, my health insurance went from just over $300 a month with 2 (yes that's a two) office visits a year to $250 a month and unlimited visits. I am no longer restricted to being insured by only one company here in Michigan. I'm a big dude. Tall, but off the weight charts. I used to challenge insurance agents to foot races or to come play hockey with me. They would all apologize saying that it didn't matter what my physical condition was, they simply couldn't insure me because their charts said no. Now they can't ask your weight, so I have more options at much lower premiums.

We shall see if that stays the case in the future.

[Bones]

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[radditsu]

The value of the minimum wage has fallen sharply over the past forty years. In 1968, for example, the federal minimum wage was $1.60 per hour, which translates to approximately $10.70 in 2013 dollars.

[radditsu]

Never adjusted for inflation.

[radditsu]

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/orders/

[Sidelle]

Originally Posted by radditsu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/orders/

Which reminds of this funny gem:

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