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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (742)	6/14/2005 3:00:19 AM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 541673

This is an honest question based on my own ignorance. The minimum wage is $5.50 or something like that, right? I am curious what service jobs or industries you think would be created or expanded at wages of $3-4 per hour. You might get a few more maids and yard guys, but most independent contractors in those fields seem to charge $50 and up for 3-4 hours of work. I'm not sure that the fast food industry and WalMart would hire more service munchkins if they could pay 30% less. I would guess their hiring is based more on customer demand rather than labor costs. Are there any studies anywhere that model what might happen in the labor force if the minimum wage were eliminated? I hear this assumption made all the time - that employment would grow - but I haven't seen the operational model spelled out. And you might end up with more people dividing the same pool of wages (more workers, lower salaries) so you would have to decide if that is a social good or not. All kinds of interesting questions in there. ;<)