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RE: Minimum Wage Economics and the Debate for Humanity

in #money7 years ago

you realize that ultimately many of your ideas clash with economic theory

That depends. It mostly clashes with neolib economy model. You know, those who have been proved wrong again and again, like the austerity one.

The most idiotic point is the concrete view that only supply counts.
The logical result is that to increase output you lower wages. That is what you get said all the time.

But this totally ignores that there has to be someone who buys all this stuff.
So they have to search for buyers far away (increase markets). They have to make goods that break fast (planned obsolescence) and they have to fight things that makes people's life better but costs money - worker protection, health (diesel scandal right now, tobacco or asbestos in the US a few decades back) and so on.

When Germany finally introduced a minimum wage there was the usual "the world will end" rhetoric from the usual suspects.
Then when the wages rose at a record rate and the economy was also better then before, it was - of course - not because of the minimum wage that allowed people to buy stuff, but in spite of.

Prediction were for job loses of 1 to 2,5 million.
After the fact it settled down to a low 5-digit number mostly in those jobs that were extremely low paid before like private security in the night or hairdresser (who sometimes got as low as 50% of the new minimum wage).