by Bas » Sun 21 Jan 2007, 13:22:05
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('armegeddon', 'T')he minimum wage increase will result in the owners of the companies raising the price of goods and services to recoup the increase in wages. In the long run, this will hurt everyone, and hurt the minimum wage earner the most since he makes the least.
I disagree, first of all, labour has to compete with machines (capital) and a higher minimum wage therefor increases innovation.
For the samer reason (because minimum wage is only a part of cost of any production), the people on minimum wage will always be better off than with a lower wage. (though raising the minimum wage might have an adverse effect on inflation when RAISING it, but this is only a temporary effect)
A high minimum wage is good for the economy and for personal well being, as the poor are likely to spend the extra money on necessities while the rich might spend it on ineffecient produced stuff they don't use anyway.
The only disadvantage to a high minimum wage is possible unemployment (for instance because you have to compete with China), therefor raising it usually happens when the labour market is already tight.