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Higher Minimum Wage Help or Hurt?

May 21, 2015 by Finance Gourmet

Now, Los Angeles becomes the biggest city to pass a $15 per hour minimum wage law. Note the very big difference between having a law, and having an actual $15 minimum wage, which it does not, and will not until 2020. Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote about how raising the minimum wage doesn’t really end up hurting businesses or the economy, in large part because minimum wage jobs are already, well… minimum. The idea is that minimum wage jobs pay the minimum, are done by the minimum number of people, and cannot be outsourced to somewhere where you could pay less than the minimum. The only possible downside, then, is a mass closing of minimum wage businesses. This was because Seattle had just become the biggest city to have a $15 minimum wage law. Various publications and “news” organizations are already trying to claim to see whatever effect their side predicted is happening. The irony is that anyone saying they know, or can already see what the effects of a higher minimum wage are, is probably lying, or misconstruing their data. What Happens With $15 Minimum Wage Here comes hard fact number 1. There is no $15 minimum wage yet. …

Why Raising Minimum Wage Doesn’t Hurt Anything

September 9, 2021May 13, 2014 by Finance Gourmet

Recently, several news outlets reported that Vermont is raising its minimum wage and will now become the state with the highest minimum wage in the nation. Seattle is looking to raise its minimum wage to nearly $15 per hour. Before these events dozens of states and cities had already raised their minimum wage above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The Colorado minimum wage is now $8.00 per hour and $4.98 per hour for “tipped” employees. This wage is indexed for inflation, so it will continue to rise as the economy expands. As is often the case, before any of these increases, opponents predicted doom, massive layoffs and closing businesses. In the case of various cities raising their minimum wage higher than the rest of the state, many opponent experts claimed that businesses would flee the cities raising wages. None of that ever happened. Why Higher Minimum Wage Doesn’t Affect Businesses The argument against minimum wage goes something like this: Businesses will flee to areas with lower minimum wages Businesses will fire workers or cut employee hours Businesses will raise prices The economy will suffer The fact is, however, that after all of these states and cities raised the minimum …