Abolish Minimum Wage

On March 29, 2010, in Thoughts, by Matt

It is time we finally have a discussion about getting rid of minimum wage laws.  With each increase in minimum wage, it is becoming harder and harder for small businesses to start up and grow, and is creating a generation of kids with no work history.

Minimum wage laws are a jewel of the left and labor unions.  To the average person it seems like a decent idea, force employers to pay at least $7.85 per hour.  That number only represents $16,328 a year.  Surely anyone working deserves at a minimum a living wage.  I used to think this myself, until I dug deeper and realized how minimum wage hurts our country and does nothing for those it intends to help.

The first glaring reason to abolish the Minimum Wage Law is because most people do not earn minimum wage.  In 2005, only 1.5% of people worked for minimum wage.  This is a very small group.  This means that 98.5% already earn more money than minimum wage.  The market decides what people are able to justify for income, and most people have skills which warrant far more.

So now doubters are saying, you just do not care about that 1.5% percent that would get a raise.  This is actually not true.  First of all, a large portion of that percentage is paid minimum wage because they receive extra money through tips.  They are bartenders, barbers, waiters, and waitresses.  These individuals earn far more than minimum wage, yet are paid cash so they show up as being affected.

Also in those numbers of minimum wage were over half of them are young workers under 25.  The most important thing for a young person is getting experience.  They understand that putting in a tough year of low paying work will lead to better opportunities.  The higher minimum wage laws have created spoiled zombies out of our younger generation.  Most teenagers will go until after college ever having any sort of real job.  Unemployment at the younger ages is a huge problem, abolishing the minimum wage law would allow for more of our entry level workers gain those important skills.

This leaves the final group that actually gets paid minimum wage.  I know, what about them.  Well I say they already benefit other ways.  If you make minimum wage, most likely you are on government housing, food stamps, Medicaid, fuel assistance and all the other government goodies.  My point is if this is the group you are worried about, you shouldn’t.  That is the point of this countries welfare system.  This is where the Liberals want to have their cake and eat it to.  Get rid of welfare and its massive costs if you want higher wage laws, get rid of welfare.

This would be a boon to small business since they would be able to hire low cost workers to help them grow from a very small company into a much larger one.  They need to be able to lower the start up costs of opening a new location.   By abolishing the wage laws, we will take the pressure off of small business.  Make it easier and cheaper to hire.  And lastly, give our young a chance to get those skills.

Matt

http://talkofliberty.com

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  • Cade

    It is obvious by reading this that you are a racist.

  • Cade

    It is obvious by reading this that you are a racist.

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  • Guest

    Good point made in the second-to-last paragraph. I believe welfare recipients are one reason the minimum wage is so low.

  • Me

    What a load of bull

  • Crcash3

    FULL EMPLOYMENT PLAN – steal this idea

    PREMISE – MAJORITY OF WORLD CLASS ECONOMISTS SAY

    *US ECONOMY HAS BEEN 70% CONSUMER SPENDING
    *CONSUMER SPENDING WILL NOT COME BACK BECAUSE NEITHER tax cuts, nor government spending nor monetary easing nor low interest rates will cause people or businesses to spend. They will save because they lost a terrific amount in the crash of 2008 ( witness Japan and Great Depress)

    THEREFORE WE WILL NOT REDUCE 10% UNEMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING SLUMP WILL CONTINUE

    unless we implement A NEW SOLUTION – AMERICANS ARE COMPETITORS AND WE NEED TO COMPETE

    NEW SOLUTION
    INDUCE CORPORATIONS TO COME HOME AND REOPEN THEIR FACTORIES IN THE US, INSTEAD OF CHINA, BRAZIL, ETC

    HOW?
    AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL WORK FOR A WAGE THAT IS COMPETIVE WITH THE ASIAN/BRAZILIAN WORKER
    BUT-
    INSTEAD OF FORCING BUSINESSES TO SUBSIDE SALARIES THROUGH A MIN. WAGE LAW, THE GOVERNMENT WILL SUBSIDIZE WAGES. THE BUDGET DEFICIT WILL BE REDUCED BECAUSE

    1. BUSINESSES WILL COME BACK TO US IN DROVES AND LOCATE PLANTS HERE
    2. FULL EMPLOYMENT
    3. ELIMINATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSUR. CHECKS TO COMPENSATE FOR WAGE SUBSIDIES-SUBSIDIZE THE UNEMPLOYED TO TAKE THE LOWER PAYING JOBS
    3. COMPETITIVE PRICES AND WAGE

    4. NCREASED CORPORATE CAPTIAL GAINS TAXES

    5. RAGINGINLY HIGH STOCK MARKET, GENERATING MORE CAPITAL AND CAUSING BUSINESSES TO INVEST IN PLANT AND EQUIPMENT INSTEAD OF THE CARRY TRADE

    • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

      Businesses would rather operate in friendly environments with low taxes and low regulations. That is it.

      Allowing companies to hire who they want and pay what they can justify is key to getting businesses back. Americans make thousands more than poor countries, because we are worth it, when our value is not justified we are not employed.

      We lose more jobs to robots than any other country, should robots be banned. Farm jobs are down 99% because of automation, is this a bad thing? We need to do more with less, that is how you make more.

      • david

        Then why do California and New York have the most economic activity? people love to say that businesses like low taxes and regulation but the fact of the matter is it’s the more regulated states, and the higher tax burden states, that have the most economic activity.

        • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

          It is no mistake that to tax heavily and have massive regulations, you must first have a thriving economy, then you can squeeze out the life of it.

          The United States grew from those two states the most significantly with a strong industrial base, and some of the highest quality Ivy League Schools. Those were established in some cases hundreds of years ago, and have supported the area in spite of taxes and regulations.

          We can have a complete free market zone in the middle of the desert, however natural resources, vicinity to trading partners, and many other factors are more important.

          The old saying, location location location is just as true in your example.

        • TommyF

          Isn’t California going bankrupt? That sure is an awesome economy.

  • Somebody

    your article states most people make above minimum wage. this may be true. however if minimum wage is $7.00 an hour and your “generous” boss gives you $7.15 an hour this is not doing you a huge favor, yet its still technically above minimum wage. are you advocating an ever sharper class division than already exists?

    without a minumum wage in place whats to keep employers from paying less than a dollar an hour? whats to keep any standards in place? people who make minumum wage dont nessarily qualify for governtment “goodies” either. nor are they always teenagers. if youve been in a truely
    financially desperate place, not having a livable wage is beyond humilating and amounts to a life barely above consensual slavery or fuedalism. take notice, do your homework on the working poor.

    • http://profiles.google.com/williamdavidtipton wm tipton

      “however if minimum wage is $7.00 an hour and your “generous” boss gives
      you $7.15 an hour this is not doing you a huge favor, yet its still
      technically above minimum wage”
      =============
      Something that is VERY common as that is exactly what the huge corp that my wife works for does….pay just enough to be ‘above’ minimum wage….by about a dime or so.

      This author clearly is out of touch with reality and my guess is was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has lived off daddies money his whole life so far.
      If he ever has to survive in the REAL world of minimum wage then maybe he’ll have an opinion worth reading.

      • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

        No silver spoon my friend, my father never worked a day in my life, on disability checks. Single mother working two jobs to have a Christmas. I do not talk about my lack of anything as a rational for something that is wrong.

        Why your wife only has the value of a dime over minimum wage is beyond me. Has she ever done anything to better herself, to advance herself, to earn more? Is it better that she be laid off and outsourced the job to China instead, does that help you out economically?

        That is the real world, being the least skilled worker in this country doesn’t pay, and should not pay out of pitty. Business doesn’t care that your wife deserves more, the kid in India with an MBA willing to do it at the same price is what sets a market rate. I do not ignore the economic facts of reality, it is you sir who does.

        • Vanillafirefly

          So who will do the unskilled job that pay lower wages if everyone has big degrees and has “bettered” themselves?  Are you trying to tell us that because some people for what ever reason are, for lack of a better term, unskilled that they should not earn at least enough to survive?  What happens when we become the nation of people who all have MBA’s and are willing to do whatever job for pennies an hour?? That’s assuming that we bcome a nation where collegiate education becomes affordable for everyone.  We will always need people to clean public facilities and work in restaurants.  Are you saying that these people should have to work 5 or 6 jobs just to make ends meet in a country where it costs so much to live and receive healthcare?  Are you saying that those people are all ready on the dole and are accounted for??  Very dismal picture you paint.  I don’t think you have a full grip on the bigger picture here. 

          • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

            Low paying jobs are the beginning points of most careers, unskilled become skilled once they are given the chance. Having lower minimum wage allows for those unskilled to become skilled, no we do not need everyone to have an MBA, just a basic work ethic.

  • david

    You’re full of shit, as someone who’s run small businesses it’s not the minimum wage that’s a problem it’s the difficulty in finding workers who are high quality who were willing to work with me because I couldn’t provide health insurance. If you really wanted to help small businesses you would be opposed to moves like this that would help walmart to crush us faster, and you would instead be about universal healthcare, and moving the tax burden to the people who could afford it.

    • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

      Explain to me how Walmart providing a better income and benefits is bad for the worker. Walmart pays more than minimum wage, and they provide benefits, that you just can’t offer.

      As for Universal Healthcare. We basically already have it. WIC, and Medicare cover those who make the least, and in my eyes a massive failure.

      • Jonathan Baez

        getting rid of minimum wage is ludacris! how can you expect to survive on ten cents an hour if you cant live on ten dollars an hour?. want the US to come back? lets stop giving billions to countries that support terrorism, outlaw job outsourcing or make it very, very costly for the company. abolish the right to work state so unions can thrive, tax the wealthy heavily why should the ceo make a billion a year for playing golf etc. when i work for a living? America was founded by the principle of government for the people, by the people NOT the corporation

        • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

          Would you work for 10 cents an hour? I wouldn’t work for minimum wage either. It is a farce. Get rid of welfare, and I could accept leaving the minimum wage in place, but not both.

          • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

            This article merely shows one aspect of thousands in which the government destroys upward mobility. I am not saying the first thing I would do as president is get rid of minimum wage, but it merely points out how foolish it is. The minimum wage laws are put in place for politicians to point to as if they are helping. There would be no need for minimum wage laws if the government didn’t destroy the value of the working mans money on a daily basis.

      • CJane

        It’s only failure is to not include all of us which would make those ‘fat greedy capitalists’ that run the health insurance industry have to go looking for another multimillion dollar a year salary somewhere else!

  • http://profiles.google.com/williamdavidtipton wm tipton

    Even if this idiot author is correct and less than 2% of workers make minimum wage, there are huge companies out there who employ tens of thousands or more workers who keep them at minimum wage and only increase to keep up with that wage.
    Take away this minimum and these soulless corporations will be paying people like my wife FAR less than what they need to survive.

    Im definitely NOT a left winger and I detest unions so anyone claiming that minimum wage is a union/left wing thing is FULL OF CRAP!

    • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

      Yes this idiot author who actually did research is correct based on that research that less than 2% of workers actually make minimum wage.

      For you to justify to me that the worker who is less skilled than greater than 98% of this country deserves anything except a low wage is beyond me. Every situation is unique, however most actual working age workers at minimum wage will simply be living on the government through food stamps, fuel assistance, etc. Explain to me why raising minimum wage and paying welfare makes sense?

      Let’s abolish minimum wage.

      • Mrclevesque

        Not everyone can afford to refuse work

        • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

          So then if it makes sense, lets raise minimum wage to 100 dollars per hour then? Why stop at 7 dollars? If it is good for 7 then 100 should be really good.

  • http://profiles.google.com/williamdavidtipton wm tipton

    “With each increase in minimum wage, it is becoming harder and harder for
    small businesses to start up and grow, and is creating a generation of
    kids with no work history.”
    =============

    Completely illogical.

    1. a HUGE reason kids have no work history these days, sorry to say, is that this is by FAR the laziest damned generation of kids this nation has spewed out to date.
    It was bad enough when I was growing up…some of the worthless friends I knew way back when are still living in their mothers basements, smoking pot and hanging out on the corner. Its gotten nothing but worse in 25 years.

    2. The solution *MAY* be to lower the minimum wage for SCHOOL AGED kids (18 and under), since that seems to be your big concern.
    But there are folks working up as high as FIVE part time, minimum wage jobs who have households to support, my friend. And just because YOU had daddy to depend on for your pocket change MOST of these folks are self reliant and DONT have that luxury. Take away minimum wage and they can no longer feed their kids or pay their rent.

    Step back and get a hold on reality.

    • Mary E Stimac

      Yes, some kids may be lazy, but I’d bet a good portion of them are already overwhelmed with school and extracurricular activities. I graduated eleven years ago, and during my last two years, I did homework for about two hours a night on an average day. I did more when a test was coming up or a big paper was due. My school didn’t allow a study hour or early release to go to a job. The average amount of homework kids do now has increased even more, not to mention the pressure to join in extra-curricular activities that look good on a college application. All in all, I’d say the average college-bound teenager today works harder than most adults.

  • USA USA USA

    2% of the popullation may make the minimum wage but between 15-20% make below 18,000 a year the only reason companies may pay more to an employee is to keep the investment made in their personnel even if there wage is slightly higher then miniium wage i would not be willing to leave a higher paying job  for a lesser if the  workload and responsibilty were equal.  To think if the minimum wage abolished these people would continue to get there dime above minimum wage is idiotic its to easy to take advantage of peoples faces you are not forced to look at and the only people that would benefit is big business and the lower class would be forced to work harder to be poorer and require more assistance from the gov and would deserve it but would be looked down on as leeches of the system. if the minimum wage were abolished wages across poor and middle class would decline and goods and services would not follow suit i thourghly believe this was posted to rile certain indivuals and it worked but I have been hearing this type of talk often lately and even by upcoming presidential canidates its time to be proactive dont allow the small percentage of the rich to determine our fate we may not have money to run and place lobbyist where needed but our vote is equal and if 20% of the us popullation would vote it would be the highest turnout to date. dont be a slave to a party the doesnt represent you vote on veiws and moral character honesty may be hard to find but a man that would cheat on his wife would also break the oath of public office they swore to god for the both of them.get informed go vote a legit 3rd part would end alot of the BS that we have seen over the years.   

  • Adam

    “without a minumum wage in place whats to keep employers from paying less than a dollar an hour?”

    Are you willing to work for a dollar an hour? Any business that’s stupid enough to have that low of a wage is going to have a extremely hard time functioning. Any business that ‘s smart enough to realize that a higher paying wage will attract workers will flourish, as they will have the pick from the more skilled workers. The free market, like it or not, is actually very fluid, and can react to most every situation.

    Here’s a situation. John owns a store, and a new worker is worth about 6.50 an hour. He wants to make money, so he is willing to employ a worker for 6.00 an hour. Bob is willing to work for 6.00 an hour. Unfortunately, the local bureaucracy decided that the minimum wage is 7.00 an hour. Being a smart business owner, John realizes that losing money would put him out of business. John makes less profit, and Bob is out of a job. Everyone loses, but at least we can feel good about fighting the fat greedy capitalist pigs.

    The basic reason why the minimum wage fails is because there is 3 effects the minimum wage can have.

    1. The minimum wage is lower than the worth of the employee’s labour.

    No effect.

    2. The minimum wage is the same as the worth of the employee’s labour.

    No effect.

    3. The minimum wage is higher than the worth of the employee’s labour.

    The employee is out of a job.

    The natural reaction to this is that without the minimum wage, people would work for pennies an hour. However, in the same way that employees rely on the employer for money, the employer is reliant on the employee for labour.

    • Adam

      Here is a quick situation.

      Joe wants a job. Bob offers him a job as a clerk for 1$ a hour. Joe thinks that is unacceptable, and goes to work for Fred, who pays 6$ an hour. Bob is a stingy guy and is unable to employ anyone, and goes out of business.

    • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

      Exactly, it’s the same market forces that are at play when an individual earns 80k a year, they refuse to work for less, and employers know it is worth that much to them.

      • Mrclevesque

         Market forces are fine for those who can afford to refuse work

        • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

          I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

    • Mrclevesque

       Market forces are fine for those who can afford to refuse work

  • Divelda

    We don’t need to punish the poor of our country more to make it better. Heavy penalties on outsourcing might make it less attractive to sell out jobs to foreigners who work for pesos a day. If the American people don’t make money, they don’t have to in turn spend. 

    • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

      We have seen what penalties do to jobs, just look at for instance, the minimum wage penalty, and how it prevents unskilled workers, typically those just graduating high school from beginning their careers as paid apprentices.

      • Mrclevesque

         Minimum wage does not stop “unskilled workers, typically those just graduating high school from beginning their careers”

        • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

          Why punish every consumer in this country so a few unskilled workers benefit. Low prices are a good thing, remember it is not what you make, but how much it buys you.

  • Suckmyballs

    you do realize that there is a minimum wage and a tipped minimum wage you dumb fuck!!!  tipped employees do not make true minimum wage but you would never know this because you obviously have never worked a job in that field nor have any insight into it

  • CJane

    Here we go, one more step towards third world status.  What a moron!

  • Mrclevesque

    Market forces are dependent on regulation. The notion of a market free of regulation is non-sensical. By definition all markets are based on a set regulations.

    The economic perspective is fine but it does not take into account the majority of facets involved in living together.

    We decide, there are no laws of economics to break, only new ways of working together, and even though these new ways may become commonplace, the economics that arise out of them will never become laws or prescriptions we must follow.

    • http://www.talkofliberty.com/ Talk of Liberty

      I am not an Anarchist nor advocate of no laws. I believe in human rights enforced by government, and property rights as well. It is not a human right to a job, those with zero skills are in that position for many reasons, but mostly by choice. We all have free public paid education through high school . As long as contracts and property rights are protected, then the free market can exist.



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