Quote:
Originally Posted by indes
IMO when you see both sides of the minimum wage increase it just doesn't make sense. The money always has to come from somewhere, but people aren't willing to part with it to support a higher minimum wage.
Wages go up, cost of materials goes up with it, end price of product goes up. I can understand where this theory makes sense, even if I don't agree with the path it sets us on.
In the real world I can't recoup those added costs. I can only increase the price so much before people just stop buying things from me, trust me, I've tried. What myself and many others have had to do is cut management. I can't afford a manager anymore and now my partner just works more for the same money and some of the responsibility is shifted. We get along just fine and profits are about the same, sounds good right?
The thing that irks me is that I had a position that provided a living wage for someone to live and raise a family on, and now I don't. Now my 17 year old dishwasher has a ballin stereo in his car and my old manager with 2 kids has moved because he couldn't find a job.
I realize this is all anecdotal but I think on a macro scale the artificial inflation on minimum wage has the opposite effect its supposed to. I believe it will only further the wealth gap between rich and poor and squeeze the middle class lower. Its almost like trying to force a trickle down effect, forcing money to the bottom when there is no way to make it come from the top.
Maybe this should be a new thread? Sorry for the derail!
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Just to be clear, your thought is that your anecdotal situation applies to the reality more than all of the combined studies of economists on the societal impact of minimum wage increases?