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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (367)	11/16/2004 10:13:18 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224647

Ann, if you are implying that artificial floors on the value of work are a good thing, then you and I disagree. Having been on both sides of the equation, I can tell you that the market finds equilibrium. Artificial floors on work value tend to cause investment in capital equipment to permanently replace workers with more reliable and relatively fixed price robotics. This has the effect of requiring fewer workers that are more educated. Thus American school failures would be ineligible for many of the newly created replacement for the previously grunt work. The real reason for minimum wage increases is that many union contracts contain language that triggers a raise for its members in the event of an increase in the minimum wage. It is pork for the Unions. Ann, let me pose you this question. What if you had a relative who was disabled in some way, and they were capable of working but not capable of being as productive as other workers are? Let us say they could assemble widgets 1/4 as fast as the average other worker. Let us stipulate that we are unable to find work that is more productive for that person. Should that person be paid the same as employees that are more productive? If it was legal and an employer was willing to use expensive assembly line space for underproductive workers, would society benefit more to have the underproductive working? Lets say the average wage was $10.00 per hour; would society benefit more from having that disabled person collecting welfare (government or family provided), or from having that person producing at $2.50 per hour, even if you thought that sounded like slave wages?