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[–] Ishamoridin 1 point 4 points (+5|-1) ago 

Raising the minimum wage will have economic impacts that will make it easier to pay that wage. Paying that wage in an economy that doesn't enforce it and therefore doesn't support it would simply be idiocy.

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[–] TexasComments [S] 2 points 1 point (+3|-2) ago 

Not when people lose their jobs when businesses can't pay them and stay afloat.

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[–] Ishamoridin 1 point 6 points (+7|-1) ago 

This will happen with short-sighted businesses, sure, but higher minimum wage means more consumer spending which means more income for basically every industry that'll be affected by this.

I swear it's like people think money disappears once it's paid to employees.

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[–] ShadowMongoose 1 point 0 points (+1|-1) ago 

Yeah, isn't it incredible that businesses have managed to survive, oh say...

Every minimum wage increase, ever

... Funny that they never seem to have a problem when it comes to the circlejerk of CEO/CO pay. That somehow is never a concern as to the impact it has on the cost of their product.

Even when the issue at hand is CEO's that rode their business into ruin. Nope, bonuses and golden parachutes all around for them.

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[–] toker7 1 point 0 points (+1|-1) ago 

It seems this has turned into a minimum wage debate. Lol.

Things to remember about a minimum wage raise:

  1. Some business, especially those which are heavily labor dependent would be spending more on labor costs which would then cut into the profit line. However, labor costs are an above the line deduction which results in most business actually being able to escape a larger tax liability. Depending on the business, this may increase profits, decrease profits, or have a negligible difference. Meaning, no generality regarding the minimum wage impact on business is likely accurate, except that it will not impact all businesses the same.

  2. While an hourly minimum would benefit the working class, history has shown that increased to an hourly minimum wage is a short term fix as inflation continuously decreases wages. Many states have attempted to combat this by tying the minimum hourly wage to inflation and adjust it every year, such as Washington State. However, there are other prosed ways to combat inflations effect on minimum wage as well.

  3. Minimum wage often does not apply to service employees such as waiters and waitresses. For example, living in South Carolina working as a waiter your likely hourly wage is between $2.50 and $4.00 per hour plus tips.

That being said. It is very unlikely that a large amount of people would be put out of work due to a gradual increase in minimum wage because 1. it is not likely to have a detrimental impact on all business, 2. inflation is always decreasing the value of an hourly wage, 3. a minimum wage does not apply to every industry.

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[–] NedTaggart ago 

Ok, follow that up and answer me this...

If you double minimum wage, Where does the money come from to pay the employees?

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[–] UncontrollableSphere 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

If you double it instantly? Nowhere. Businesses fail. Everyone loses.

If you double it very slowly? Then purchasing power for lower income workers slowly rises, allowing them to spend more, thus increasing profits for businesses, which in turn gives them the ability to pay more when the next minimum wage hike comes.

Prices will rise, but not nearly as much as purchasing power. And the community as a whole will benefit: if someone isn't making enough to properly feed themself, buy clothes, go to the movies, go to restaurants, buy a couch, take transit, or see a dentist, then the community is losing possible revenue. But if they're earning more, then they're able to afford these "luxuries" and funnel much of their increased earnings back into the economy.

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[–] Ishamoridin ago 

The business will go into the red briefly before the market adapts, but many businesses operate on a deficit for periods of time, they'll just increase their debt a little comparatively. I'm not saying no businesses failure will be attributable to the change, but it's not going to be nearly as significant as it's made out to be unless people go around scaremongering.