http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/03/news/economy/buffett-minimum-wage/index.html?iid=SF_E_Lead
In this article, Warren Buffet reflects that if at all possible, he would love for minimum wage to be as high as $15 per hour, but that a more moderate increase is much more sensible in terms of the economy. He agrees with many that the poorest in America are far too poor for how wealthy our country is as a whole, but thinks that tax cuts for the lowest income earners would be a better way to help those that need it. This seems logical; let the government have less money rather than employers, thus helping citizens and simultaneously not hurting businesses.
This is a great option to avoid putting small businesses out of business. However, just because there is a tax cut for low income americans does not guarantee that it helps their poverty problems. Personally, I do not think the minimum wage has any correlation with helping poverty. No one would ever make that kind of a statement politically, because one cannot oppose helping those in poverty, but in reality the minimum wage issue wouldn't change the problem. In an effort against poverty it is probably not the best way to make significant change.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that raising minimum wage may not be the best idea for the economy as a whole, but I certainly think it would help with poverty levels. Most people living in poverty make minimum wage or just a little bit above or do not have jobs at all. What else would you do to help them besides allowing them to earn more money? Someone has to do the low end jobs.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the minimum wage should increase but at the same time I think if the minimum wage increases then the corporations will start outsourcing minimum wage level jobs to labor force from developing countries as the corporations want profit maximization.
ReplyDeleteThus I feel the minimum wage should be at the MPL.
For current economic conditions, it is appropriate to increase the minimum wage. While it would be helpful to allow more tax cuts, it is not logical to keep the minimum wage at the level that it is now. The minimum wage has not seen a lot of growth in the last 50 years, and if you adjust for inflation, is economically valued $2 lowest than the minimum wage in 1968. Furthermore, I agree with Emma that increasing the minimum wage would help those in poverty, but I disagree with the idea that increasing the minimum wage would drastically hurt the job market. While it is predicted that increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 would cost the U.S. economy 500,000 jobs, that is only 0.3%. However, if we increased the minimum wage to that level, then 900,000 people would be out of poverty, and additionally, low-wage Americans would have an additional $31 billion dollars to spend on the economy. That additional revenue could help encourage job growth later, and by taking people out of poverty, more people would have the opportunity to better themselves. If social mobility is improved, then that is better for the job market since people can find higher paying jobs.
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