Thursday, January 04, 2007

Another View of Minimum Wage

A Joe Fullmer sets forth an analysis for George W. Bush’s support of the Minimum Wage; it would seem to have some holes in it, and frankly, must be discounted. It does express the Hinterland paranoia about the motivations of Our elected Officialdom. It also expresses an unheard Business paranoia as well; the later tying their Wage schedules to the Minimum Wage, raising the Minimum Wage also raises the incentive packages Business must offer their Workers. This is the possible real root of the Business dilemma, not a supposed worry about the Minimum Wage workers they would be forced to lay off. Hint: Minimum Wage labor is necessary to do the work which other Employees resent to do, or outright refuse to do.

George Will and Mark Steckbeck exhibit the later paranoia with the claim that Employers make Minimum Wage workers the best employment offers they can make. I wonder at Employers who consistently grant themselves Bonuses of about 30% of their Salary, who cannot even risk some 20% of that Bonus to pay the expected increased Minimum Wage. I realize suddenly that I have ventured into the hallowed ground of Returns for vibrant entrepreneurship.

PGL at Angry Bear takes George Will to task on the issue of treating Labor as a Commodity. There is also the statement that the BLS itself reports some 1.4 million Workers actually draw less than the Minimum Wage, because Steckbeck’s best Employer Job offers are excused from meeting Minimum Wage standard; loopholes which this Democratic Congress might think to close. No one mentions that a Minimum Wage increase could generate added economic growth by a greater expenditure of that Minimum Wage labor which are not under the Poverty line; not denying that the Poor might think to pay more of their bills. lgl

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