General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: So, about that Amazon wage hike that Bernie is responsible for... [View all]TexasTowelie
(113,624 posts)but all of this fails to respond to the issue of how the minimum wage affects those who or are either living on limited incomes or no income at all. With over one-third of the "working age" U.S. population not participating in the workforce (some by choice while others face issues ranging from age discrimination, disability, or legal issues preventing them from getting hired), the increase in the minimum wage only helps those that are employed.
As far as the EPI theoretical model is concerned, is there any mention in the article about those who aren't in the labor market? I didn't see any which means that the EPI fails to consider those not in the work force and/i] those who have aged out of the labor force. I suspect that there are more people that fit into those groups than the 41 million mentioned in the think tank article.
The EPI article relies on past experience when there were increases in the minimum wage that were in the 10% to 20% percent range. There is no comparative experience in U.S. history to reply upon when implementing a 70% to 100% increase in the minimum wage or the economic effects that it might have. I suspect that an increase in the minimum wage of that magnitude will cause some businesses to fail in which case what good did the increase in the minimum wage do for those employees?
You also insist that people would have transfer to new higher paying jobs without factoring in issues such as whether people have transportation to a more lucrative job or other benefits like being able to arrange their work schedule.
I've also found that companies in the real world will do almost anything possible to contain labor costs. If the price of hourly labor becomes too expensive then they will use the exempt labor force that is paid a salary to make up the slack. I have personal experience in that area as I frequently worked 70-80 hour weeks for months at a time.
I'll rely on my past 40 years of experience in the real world as to how an economic change will affect me rather than believe what a think tank or someone who isn't walking in my shoes says. I wasn't born yesterday. I'm a statistician and I'm well aware of how statistics can be massaged to portray any message and draw any conclusion that is desired which I'm certain that the EPI did.