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Politics : Libertarian Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (9927)	7/11/2014 7:07:05 PM
From: i-node	2 Recommendations Recommended By dave rose TimF Respond to of 13056

>> So your solution is low wages Low wages aren't a solution, they're a fact of life when demand for labor declines, as it has. It has declined because of all the ancillary costs associated with hiring. If, when you hire a $10/hour person you then have to add benefits, unemployment comp, workers comp, Social Security and a ton of other benefits, it isn't a $10/hour person anymore, it is $15 or more. Now, here is the problem. There are people in the world whose labor simply isn't worth $15/hour. their labor is worth maybe $8/hour. And no amount of minimum wage will change that fact. The value of labor is what it is. And arguably the most fundamental precepts of microeconomics and managerial accounting maintain, with absolute certainty, that if a unit of labor is worth $8 you will not pay $15 for it. Period. >> and government programs filling basic needs with your tax dollars? That is a problem with government, not with low wages. Government should not be "filling basic needs" with tax dollars. Aside from that the claim is essentially propaganda. There are those who cannot make ends meet on minimum wage but there are those who can -- although it may not leave a lot of room for niceties. You should keep in mind that, for example, Obamacare provides a family of four making $94,000 with health insurance subsidies. This is government gone wild, not "filling basic needs." >> We're heading down a black hole, towards a working class that resembles 3rd world countries. We are, but it is because of two basic things: 1) We don't need as much labor today because of automation; we need people who can innovate which is what creates demand, and 2) Government has made it so expensive to hire people that employers are willing to spend more to replace employees than they are to hire more. And YOUR solution is to make it even more expensive. I respect your views, but they are quite obviously wrong.