Friday, August 01, 2008

Why minimum wage is wrong

First off, how many people actually work for minimum wage? Not many. If you do, you are probably unskilled or just started your job.

Minimum wage is for high school students, college kids, and those people just entering the work force.

If the minimum wage were required to force employers to pay employees enough money, why aren't we all working for minimum wage? I'll tell you why, COMPETITION. As workers we have to compete for jobs and if you are willing to work for less, than you will probably get the job over me. But if I wanted to work for less than minimum wage in order to get a job, the law wouldn't allow me to. That is a violation of my rights. But, our employers also have to compete. If one company is offering me more money than another, I will get a job with the company offering more money.

Second, no one said you are supposed to work for minimum wage for 40 hours a week for the rest of your life. Get experience, move up, make more money.

Minimum wage only serves to raise the bar for everyone. Those who were making for more than minimum wage will now ask their employers for an equal raise to what the minimum wage workers got. Anyone making only minimum wage might actually have the bar raised over their heads if their employer cannot afford to pay them anymore.

So two things happen when minimum wage rates are raised, people lose their jobs when employers can't afford the rate hike, and everyone else wants a raise too thus canceling out any benefit to making more money since prices will be raised in turn to pay for the higher wages.

Let's not forget that as long as the Federal Government keeps borrowing and the Federal Reserve keeps printing money for them, the value of the dollar will continue to decline until it is totally worthless.

So lets not worry so much about minimum wages and focus instead on fiscally responsible government. That way you can have your minimum wage if you want it and it will never have to raised.

So next time you hear that they want to raise the minimum wage why don't you ask them, "Why do you want to lay people off and raise prices?"