Minimum Wage: Although Good Intentions, Bad Policy

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English 1A
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Minimum Wage: Although Good Intentions, Bad Policy
Minimum wage rates like any other national decision affecting the working environment of people have economic impacts in the long run that require considerable consideration when they have to be implemented. My essay presents an overview about the amount of minimum wage in the United States. There have recently been disputes on the issue of raising the minimum wage. Some have confidence that by raising the minimum wage, many Americans would be able to climb above the poverty line and increase their way of life (“United States Minimum Wage Increase”). Others dispute those ideas are saying that increasing the flow pay would only make it more difficult for employers to remunerate their employees and people would begin to lose the incentive to work hard. The argument discusses if the government needs to control the economic system to assist the market in taking in low or no skilled workers. Much of this argument indirectly borders the topic of whether the private or the public sector should take on the responsibility of easing the poverty level.
I don’t agree with individuals who argue that the living standard is going to improve with a higher minimum wage. The minimum wage will not fix the problem of rising living costs. Increasing the minimum wage will not correct the problem because the price of items of merchandise will increase to match it; therefore the difference between wages and cost of living will still be the same (Halvorson N.

p). Many will say that the cost of living is going to improve with a higher minimum wage. But I say that if we work on lowering or balancing the cost of living, then we don’t need a higher minimum wage and the price of merchandise won’t rise to match it. The way that I understand it is that the cost of living has gone up while minimum wage has come to a halt. One cause for prices to go up is out of need. Merchandise becomes costlier when supply prices go up. There’s an ideal cost for everything, and increase influences prices to rise (Epstein, 57-67). When there is too much of an item, the cost becomes somewhat of little worth and businesses lose profits. To stop this from happening, they raise the prices. When it stops there’s no reason for businesses to lower the cost when people will pay the higher price regardless, so they don’t. Additionally, when this happens the state cost of living differences does not seem to impact a state’s choice to raise its minimum wage higher than the federal level. It is curious because of the Democratic supporters as we’ve seen during this election talk about the rising cost of living as a primary justification for a higher minimum wage. We should be working on what has caused the cost of living to rise. If raising the minimum wage will not fix the problem then how do we lower the cost of living?
I believe that this is a horrible time even to consider the possibility of increasing the minimum wage for workers. Scientific developments are making it possible for companies to replace more and more people with machines. However, low or no skilled positions like janitorial services would be hard to replace, checkouts and receptions, however, are not. So many companies for years have been talking about the creation of intelligent machines, from robots to automobiles to drones. Service jobs are fairly easy to automate. I remember when I had to go to a teller to make a deposit or take out some cash that is no longer the case. If banks can replace tellers who handle money, fast food companies will be quick to install automated ordering screens and machines. If you think about it touch screens don’t need time off, there is no legally mandated health care, and they don’t complain. The initiatives will just give them the reason to go further forward with it. Soon they will dominate the economy and while doing so, decrease the value of human employment. With the rise in wages and how counterproductive they have already been, we have already begun to see the increase in the appeal of automation and putting more workers at risk of job loss. Even Amazon now used machines to pick and package their warehouse products (Waltman, N.p). Increasing minimum wage will boost investment in machines to lower long-term costs. The approach is all about basic economics that everyone needs to understand as costs of labor increase added has to be balanced. You push employers too hard, and they have to and will find ways to make it work for them.
You cannot redistribute income without stifling economic growth. Supply and demand say that growth in the minimum wage that increases the difference between the market wage and the legal wage will boost the level of unemployment. It’s reasonable to suppose that supply and demand will hold, so much that increasing the minimum wage will make it more unbearable for new labors who productivity is not worth as much to employers than the required wage. Some might argue, “Employers may get a more stable workforce due to reduced turnover and increased productivity.” (Epstein, 57-67) Other options could arise rather than just the supply and demand outcome that we all learn in Economics. Employers can decrease the number of hours instead of having fewer workers. There’re many things that they can do to try to offset the costs. They can stop using the air conditioner and lower the cost of comforts that the employees use to have. They can instead of paying regular employees start using employees that are off the books and who are happy to work for less than the minimum wage. They could also, and most likely raise the prices for customers. Minimum wages decrease work prospects for under skilled or no skilled workers. Only higher productivity secures long-term higher wages.
Employers won’t be able to pay as many employees. For employers that have a budget for paying their employees, and if the minimum wage increases, it means they can’t pay the same number of workers at a higher minimum wage, and they will have to downsize to remain within their budget. Also, earnings for higher paid labors might be blocked, and salary raises might not be as high for those not impacted by a higher minimum wage (Ornstein, N.p). However, there are those who believe that increasing the minimum wage means those labors have more money to spend so more money moves into the economy as minimum wage workers can spend more. Plus, more income for the community would be created from payroll taxes for things like social security. This should produce lower taxes for other Americans. Overall government overheads for programs for the needy would decrease. However, we need to remember that although some workers may make to some extent more money, others will now be unemployed. If we were to do a small increase in minimum wage that has a minimal raise increase over a short time but it still is the main cause of an increase in inflation over the long run. The present effort to raise the minimum wage from $10 to $15 is a major increase which will cause a major cost of goods to the consumer to go up. There are only two ways businesses can deal with these cost increases. First, increasing the price of their goods on the marketplace or reducing the payroll through layoffs. Somehow it’s probable that it would be a combination of both. The people who will suffer the most are retirees who live on fixed incomes.
Should the government try to regulate the economic system? No. I own my labor, just like I own my arm, leg, house, car, etc. I have a basic human right to sell my labor for whatever price I want. It is mine and nobody, not even the government has the authority to put a gun in my face and force me to sell it for a price they dictate. That is blatant tyranny and America should be ashamed for accepting it for all these decades (Truman, N.p). What happened to the “land of the free”? Much of government interference means increased red tape; more red tape means things don’t get done. The Democrats may say that; it is needed to assist the market in taking in low or no skilled workers. Well, that’s partially true those who first enter the workforce it may help for a while, but most who have been working for a few years soon move beyond the minimum wage (Reich, Jacobs, & Miranda, N.p). The main beneficiary is nobody in the workforce as much as it the unions, who favor ever-increasing minimum wage. For example look at what has happened in the past between the private sector and the public sector take on the minimum wage. It has driven up costs, and it has also resulted in many of us paying a much higher percentage of federal income taxes than we would have 50 years ago. Overall, I am opposed to the federal regulation of a minimum wage, but feel that states should have the option of setting one if they so wish. I think this would be acceptable under the U.S. Constitution.
The minimum wage increase will not benefit the people but put us further into debt. I believe that the increase would cripple many companies and stall the economic recovery. What interests me about the topic is that minimum wage positions are not for people who have a family to take care of. We don’t need to raise the minimum wage; we need real careers and labors better qualified for these jobs. So, what who cares if recently there has been disagreement on whether the minimum wage should be increased or not, if it helps even one person’s way of life we should support it. You should care because increasing the minimum wage would only make it harder for employers to pay their workers and people would begin to lose motivation to work hard, and it would inevitably hurt those that it was meant to help.
Works Cited
Epstein, Richard A. “Income Inequality Can Be Good for Everyone.” The Wage Gap, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2014. Current Controversies. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, fresno.idm.oclc.org/login? Ford, William F., Travis Minor, and Mark F. Owens. “State Minimum Wage Differences: Economic Factors or Political Inclinations?” Bus Econ Business Economics 47.1 (2012): 57-67.
Halvorson, Chad. “The Pros and Cons of Raising Minimum Wage – When I Work.” When I Work. N.p., 6 Mar. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
Ornstein, Norm. “There Is a Moral and Economic Case for Raising the Minimum Wage.” Ethics, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, fresno.idm.oclc.org/login?
Reich, Michael, Ken Jacobs, and Miranda Dietz. When Mandates Work: Raising Labor Standards at the Local Level. U of California, 2014. Print.
Truman, Harry S. “A Fair Deal.” Social Policy: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 206-211. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
“United States Minimum Wage Increase.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
Waltman, Jerold L. Minimum Wage Policy in Great Britain and the United States. New York: Algora Pub., 2008. Print.