Why are people on ET so against a decent minimum wage

[Smurfie]

Quote from JB3:

I think you should look at quality of life instead of minimum wage, but then you wouldn't have much of a case, now would you? Run along.

Hey JB3

I can't see the correlation. Not only is quality of life a really, really murky measure at best, because it can be operationalised in infinite ways, but when it has been attempted, there seems to be no relationship present.

Of the four contries mentioned in this thread (US, UK, Australia and Denmark), they are ranked like this when it comes to minimum wages, quality of life (UN) & quality of life (the Economist):

Minimum wages (highest first):
1. Denmark
2. Australia
3. UK
4. US

QoL (UN):
1. Australia
2. US
3. Denmark
4. UK

QoL (Economist):
1. Denmark
2. Australia
3. US
4. UK

_______

@ syswizard

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but then we still need to explain why countries that do it vastly different, do better or equally well on both GDP/cap. and QoL (and without big oil exports, gold mines or whatever).

_______

Happy holidays,

Smurf

 

[rcanfiel]

Quote from ProfLogic:

There is that large sucking sound coming from the internet again. What is your real name again?

You needed to post this identical thing in 2 diff threads? At least you know how to cut and paste... Since you insist, same reply twice:

Yes. You are:

Professor Illogic WhinyPants:
"I will sue you for libel so watch out for my lawyers" even though I do the same thing to other people - one of the most caustic persons on ET

"Baron, remove these posts because it hurts my feelings"

"I claim to be a professor even though I make constant errors in basic knowledge like 'to a tea'"

Does that about cover it? And didn't you claim to be ignoring my posts "again"? Does anything you say ever come true?

 

[gfrost]

Quote from floridadon:

Florida has a minum wage of $6.67/hour in 2007. This will buy 2 gallons of gas with 41 cents left over. A new 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in Cape Coral, Florida is $139,900. A loaf of French bread is $1.37, a pound of boneless chicken breast is $1.99 . Emergency rooms will accept anyone for a medical emergency, without the US having to implement a universal health care program, that leaves many people dead each year, through lack of resources. Because the rewards of my efforts are not taxed to a degree that leaves me nothing to show for my effort I risk my money to achieve a respectable income.
For $10 in England how much gas can you purchase? What is the cost of a loaf of French bread, a pound of boneless chicken breast ? A new home/ 1600 square foot home would cost how much in England?
I think you will find that our minimum wage just might be as good or better than yours, once buying power is considered.
It would seem that some problems are evident in all societies:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2330795.stm

A gallon of gas (petrol) in the UK costs about £1.02 per litre x 3.785 to convert to a US gallon = £3.86 x approx 2 to convert to dollars = $7.72.
A new 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home would cost at a very minumum £200,000 ($400,000) with hardly any land, and most likely more. Houses are running at over 6 times average earnings and over 10 in London.
So yes you are right, you have more purchasing power in the US, although from what I hear parts of Manhattan are more expensive than London
I bet it's a bit warmer in Florida, its about 8 degrees C in Manchester, UK at the moment, but despite all its faults, I still love the UK, as I am sure you love the US.
I don't agree with the original poster about the mimimum wage. I think it needs to be kept as low as possible to keep unemployment down. It would be wonderful to be able to pay everyone $15 per hour, but this is just not realistic.
I also don't agree with the crisicism of American English, I think most of it is better organised then "English" English, there are also some funny differences such as:
If you are in a classroom and a Brit ask you for a "rubber" they mean an eraser not a contraceptive, or if a smoker says they are "dying for a fag" it means they want a cigarette, not a Homosexual.
I work for an American company, and of course use the American futures market so I am glad the US has created such a competetive and dynamic market.
If I may be a bit critical, it seems that everything state run must be "socialist" or "communist", having a Government run health system is a real bonus. The US has a state run education system do you think of this as socialist or government medling, anyway I don't want to be too negative so I would like to wish you all a happy Christmas and I hope you all have a profitable new year.

Good Luck
Graham

 

[jamis359]

Quote from syswizard:


Laws and regulation mess with the natural free market.
In the long run, this is not good.

Study some economic history and you'll see that the free market is a poor performer. Unregulated free markets always whip themselves into a speculative frenzy followed by an inevitable crash. Free market economies often suffer debilitating depressions.

Paulson was saying that the subprime problem should not be solved with more regulations. What an idiot! That's exactly the root of the problem. If there were good regulations in place that prohibit undocumented loans, liar loans, full transparency of CDO's, etc., the whole subprime mess would have never happened.

Mixed economies -- part capitalist, part socialist -- have the best track record for economic growth, job creation, short recessions instead of depressions, etc.

 

[the4xczar]

gfrost, you've made some interesting observations. I would correct you on one thing though - regarding our "state" run education system. We actually do not have a state system by European standards. If you send your child to a public school, the local school board "calls the shots", so to speak, not Congress in Washington. The Federal Govt (D.C.) will allocate federal funds to the states, but our local property taxes fund much of our local public schools and we as citizens have a say in how/what our children are taught. So to say it's "government/state-run" is actually a misnomer. (Incidentally, I had a great time in London the last time I was there and look forward to visiting again. I also have a number of neighbors from your "neck of the woods").

 

[jd7419]

Quote from jamis359:

Study some economic history and you'll see that the free market is a poor performer. Unregulated free markets always whip themselves into a speculative frenzy followed by an inevitable crash. Free market economies often suffer debilitating depressions.

Paulson was saying that the subprime problem should not be solved with more regulations. What an idiot! That's exactly the root of the problem. If there were good regulations in place that prohibit undocumented loans, liar loans, full transparency of CDO's, etc., the whole subprime mess would have never happened.

Mixed economies -- part capitalist, part socialist -- have the best track record for economic growth, job creation, short recessions instead of depressions, etc.

With all those regulations a large portion of the lefts constituency would never get a loan. That would not fly for the Al Sharptons and Hillary Clintons of this world.