St. Louis minimum wage will drop from $10 to $7.70

[The Diplomat]

Which number is about right?

 

[Falsedawn]

Which number is about right?

Like I said, it's up in the air at the moment, there's no real "right number". The IRLE at UC Berkley thinks that you can go up to $13 without affecting employment. UW is more pessimistic in saying that increasing min wage at all causes substantial unemployment, but even they acknowledge that their results shouldn't be generalized to other localities or at the federal level. There's really no correct answer as to whether or not Seattle was an anomaly or not, and even still, it's waaaay too early to call it one way or the other for sure. I'd like incremental increases just to see how the market responds, with maybe $11 or $12 at the high end depending on how things go. If the optimistic view is the case, i'd even be in favor of pushing to $13 if you could limit adverse impact. Lower classes having more money tends to fuel local economies, because they're the paycheck to paycheck spenders. It's hard to disagree with rebuilding from the bottom up with that in mind.

 

[Jack V Savage]

What's the correct number?

Didn't the Seattle study everyone is talking about show that $11 was no problem but $12 seemed to be counterproductive? So for an economy like Seattle's, somewhere between $11 and $12? I'd guess the ideal MW would be lower in worse economies, though.

 

[Jack V Savage]

I'm on your side on this basically but for sake of the discussion have to point out some things.

The higher the min wage the more attractive the automation. So at a certain point min wage does kill jobs but it depends on how high the wage is and what industry.

Also at the end of the day a min wage is a form of govt policy to redistribute wealth. I'm ok with that but then I think it would be much more effective and efficient to not target employers as the providers of these things (same for health care).

Tax the wealthy no matter who they are and redistribute a min living standard to those that need it. Corps / businesses then pay what the market bears for labor based on productivity. Same impact with less economic distortion.

I agree with almost all of this, but I'd add that the markets for MW labor are very different from 101-type conceptions of markets. Among other things, buyers have way more relevant information available than sellers. I look at MW as a way to protect workers from getting less than they'd get in a perfect market.

 

[Gandhi]

I agree with almost all of this, but I'd add that the markets for MW labor are very different from 101-type conceptions of markets. Among other things, buyers have way more relevant information available than sellers. I look at MW as a way to protect workers from getting less than they'd get in a perfect market.

I was actually thinking of making a similar point but then thought a digression into consumer and producer surpluses and who was getting the bigger share would distract from the overall point. But of course markets are assymetrical in market power / information / etc.

 

[Sir Galahad]

Companies can hire more workers.

 

[Taco Loco]

That sucks they shouldn't do that man, that's gonna hurt a lot of people.

 

[ehtheist]

Didn't the Seattle study everyone is talking about show that $11 was no problem but $12 seemed to be counterproductive? So for an economy like Seattle's, somewhere between $11 and $12? I'd guess the ideal MW would be lower in worse economies, though.

Groovy. Don't suppose you have a link to the study?

 

[ehtheist]

Guessing you've been waiting a month to post a few memes after you ran away from a question you knew you didn't have a good answer for, eh? Still a sexist False

 

[Fawlty]

I was in East St Louis 20 years ago (it's probably changed by now) but holy s*** that was the worst ghetto I think I've ever come across my life.

Has a legit claim to being the worst place in the country from the news and what I hear. I won't even drive through for a gawk. The worst place I've been brave enough to cruise was a little town called Jennings (short drive from Ferguson). Half the place was boarded up, but occupied. There were basically no cars on the road that were worth more than $1000 or less than $50,000, if that paints the picture. Some New Jack City shit. The hell with that.

 

[Falsedawn]

Guessing you've been waiting a month to post a few memes after you ran away from a question you knew you didn't have a good answer for, eh? Still a sexist False

 

[vespasian]

Uh, no shit?

If not them, then who? Lmfao.

how do you call the ppl who make min. wage? the illiterate manual laborers, mainly illegal migrants? working class?

 

[Bargey]

Not a fan of this.

$7.00 is not enough to live even if working 50 hours per week

 

[vespasian]

Rent controls are a tough cookie to bite into though, there's no way that i've seen to do it gracefully. In ATX for instance, i'm (as a middle class person) finding myself priced out of Austin despite making more than enough to be self sufficient. I make too much for the controlled apartments, but not enough to live downtown without adjusting my lifestyle to an unreasonable degree. You risk pricing out the middle class instead of the poor, which can be more harmful to local economies. It's a hard issue to address.

You're right. Then how can't you see that high. min. wages are hurting small business owners, who are by no means 'rich'. They're middle class.

 

[vespasian]

Not a fan of this.

$7.00 is not enough to live even if working 50 hours per week

again, $7 is not what a working class worker would make. Is what an illiterate, uneducated laborer makes for doing very menial jobs.

 

[Falsedawn]

how do you call the ppl who make min. wage? the illiterate manual laborers, mainly illegal migrants? working class?

DEFINITION of 'Working Class'
A socioeconomic term used to describe persons in a social class marked by jobs that provide low pay, require limited skill and/or physical labor, and have reduced education requirements. Unemployed persons or those supported by a social welfare program are often included in this group.

Read more: Working Class http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/working-class.asp#ixzz4mAqzPAYe

working class
Socioeconomic class consisting of individuals that are paid an hourly wageand considered to be lower-middle class. Typically these individuals work blue-collar jobs such as manufacturing, retail sales, or food service. Also called lower class.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/working-class.html

work·ing class
ˈwərkiNG ˈˌklas/
noun

1. 1.
   the social group consisting of people who are employed for wages, especially in manual or industrial work.
   "the housing needs of the working classes"

adjective

1. 1.
   relating to people belonging to the working class.
   "a working-class community"

https://www.google.com/search?q=working+class

<puh-lease75>

 

[vespasian]

My neighbor who's a carpenter is 'working class' . The illegals who hang out at Home Depot are laborers with no skills whatsoever.

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

Not a fan of this.

$7.00 is not enough to live even if working 50 hours per week

Yeah but if you're poor you don't deserve to live anyway. That's what the WR taught me.

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

I don't think people working part time at Burger King is your textbook definition of working class.

Why wouldnt they be? Theyre working. What other class would they be in? You could call them the ¨working poor¨ but thats still a sub-set of the working class.

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

Loooool.

When I got out of high school in 95 and wanted to work a bit I built refrigerators for min wage. Made 35k a year for 37 hour weeks. With 6 weeks paid vacation.

Bro thats because you live in Communist Europe!!