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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (372232)	2/28/2008 12:42:47 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 1576163

The market clearing wage isn't a set amount, it always changes, from place to place and over time. But its still an important consideration. Even if we can't precisely define it (or if we could it would change by the time we reported the figure), we can have an idea of what it is you can see the effects in lost jobs if you create a minimum wage much higher than this rate. And why do you so firmly believe that a person that works full time in this country shouldn't make a "living wage"? Are you afraid that it might cut into your wages? The issue isn't just people who work full time. Many people work part time. And "living wage" is often defined as enough to cause a person or even a family of four to have a certain level of income, but many people who work minimum wage jobs don't have that job as the main support for themselves, let alone for a whole family. The minimum wage jobs tend to be secondary part time jobs for full time workers at higher rates, or jobs for very young people (often part time as well), or a job for the relatively unskilled spouse of a worker who makes more than minimum wage. Now I'd love for everyone to make a ton of money, or barring that an amount that almost anyone would call "a living wage", but if your ignore economic reality you pay a price. I want people to have decently high wages, but I don't want 1 - The increase in unemployment you get from increasing the cost of labor. 2 - The driving of some of the remaining employment off the books. 3 - The limitation on freedom of both the employer and the worker caused by the government determining their contract terms. 4 - The reduction of US companies competitiveness because of additional imposed costs from this government regulation. 5 - The reduction of the ability of people to get the first stages of work experience and job skills because employers are reluctant to hire young inexperienced people if they have to pay them enough to support a family. 6 - The upward pressure on prices from higher costs, which cuts in to any of the benefit from those who actually do get higher wages from a living wage law, while at the same time imposing costs on everyone else (from the unemployed person on government assistance to the very rich).