On June 19, 2014, Bryce Covert writes on ThinkProgress:
CREDIT: FLICKR/WISCONSIN JOBS NOW
On Wednesday night, the Massachusetts House passed a bill that will raise the state’s minimum wage to $11 an hour by 2017. The Senate already passed that wage level, and after a procedural vote there it will head to Gov. Deval Patrick (D), who is expected to sign it into law.
An earlier Senate version of the bill would have also automatically increased the minimum wage as inflation rose, but that provision was dropped in the final version.
An $11 wage is the highest passed by any state this year. Eight other states have increased their wages so far: Delaware and West Virginia went above $8 an hour;Michigan went up to $9.25; Minnesota increased its wage to $9.50; Hawaii,Maryland, and Connecticut passed a $10.10 wage; and Vermont went to $10.50 an hour. The $10.10 an hour level is what President Obama and Congressional Democrats had pursued for a federal hike, but Republicans blocked the move.
While $11 an hour will be the highest state wage, some cities are going even further. Seattle will raise its wage to $15 an hour over ten years, and a nearby town already passed the same wage, although it’s currently being held up in court.Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco are all eyeing a $15 minimum wage as well.
While some worry that higher minimum wages will hurt jobs or businesses, states that already had high wages haven’t had that experience. Washington, which has the highest current wage at $9.32 an hour, experienced the biggest increase in small business employment last year. Over the 15 years since it increased its wage to a national high, job growth has remained at a steady, above average rate. All told, a comprehensive look at state minimum wage increases over two decades didn’t find evidence that they impacted job creation.
This is a ridiculous assertion of a gradual increase to $11.00 per hour by 2017. This is subsistence income. A minimum wage is not the solution to economic inequality and will perpetuate economic inequality and poverty, and thus taxpayer-supported redistribution to pay for welfare services.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/06/19/3450807/massachusetts-minimum-wage-11/
Gary Reber makes a good case that raising minimum wages adds to the costs of producing goods and services. Such a strategy therefore makes it more difficult for the poor and middle class to meet the costs of food and other basic needs. It is also a reason for US companies to outsource jobs to other countries. Reber also offers a better win-win alternative that would grow the economy in a non-inflationary way, create new jobs and enable every child, woman and man to become empowered through equal ownership opportunities, a fundamental systems change that neither the Left or the Right has taken the time to seriously consider. Here’s an article published by The Journal of Socio-Economics pointing out the common sense logic of the approach Reber is advocating: http://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/pricesandmoney.pdf
Excellent article. I will be going through many
of these issues as well..