tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037190876571380696.post5880377298052468363..comments2023-11-25T03:11:51.759-06:00Comments on On Today's Page: Missing "MATHINESS" in minimum wage discussions Denis Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11833367196756465896noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037190876571380696.post-30491904364671273052015-11-19T11:20:15.140-06:002015-11-19T11:20:15.140-06:00COME TO THINK OF IT
Why can't we simply explai...COME TO THINK OF IT<br />Why can't we simply explain that -- if a higher minimum wage costs jobs -- that the extra money earned by the remaining workers will be spent elsewhere, re-creating jobs sort of automatically ...<br /><br />... AND! that given that low wage labor tends to patronize low wage businesses more than average (and medium, medium, etc.) that more low wage jobs may be created ALBEIT at the cost of some mid and high wage jobs (because mid and high who pay more for low wage labor will have less to spend on their own ...<br /><br />... AND that mid and reasonably high can get their money back by taxing the income, say, over two million dollar at 90% (cutting mid and high tax bills) ...<br /><br />... WHICH HIGH TAXATION WILL IN TURN free up the log jam of demand created by super high incomes making more money than they can practicably spend -- a virtual stimulus with no debt hangover.Denis Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11833367196756465896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037190876571380696.post-64432097014221021312015-09-30T12:54:10.225-05:002015-09-30T12:54:10.225-05:00Here’s another angle: economists like to talk abou...Here’s another angle: economists like to talk about markets “clearing.”<br /><br />How’s about a labor market that clears out native born employees who wont work for several dollars off LBJ’s minimum wage/twice the per capita income later — only to be replaced by desperate foreign born employees? Don’t hear economists discuss the implications of that, ever. Never.<br /><br />In Chicago, fast food has been strictly the domain of Mexican and Indian born employees in my observation. Now, at $10/hr there is one young Am-born kid in my Micky’s.<br /><br />Taxi driving. I started out making $50 a night in a car service in the Bronx in 1976 — $210 a night in today’s dollars. Grueling work but worth it. Down to $150 by 1980 after double-didget inflation whence I moved to Chicago — same pay; just as hard. Today I suspect our victims make less than $100 a night which if you figure in time and a half over eight hours (most work 6 days I’m sure) amounts to about $7 an hour, no benefits, no vacation. Did I mention that per capita income climbed 66% since I started hacking in the Bronx — most gains going to the income level who use cabs?<br /><br />What, if anything, do our progressive pros think about “clearing out”? I would say you should test the market to discover the most the consumer will pay (I cab driver) — no matter who the employees are. Probably pay the same to any employees. Currently depending on the most desperate employees to keep prices lower (for who?). What do academics think. Do they ever think about any of this?<br /><br />PS. Another thing academics used to take seriously on the verbal level: EITC. But, mathiness says EITC only transfers one-third of one percent of GDP in a labor market where 45% are making less than what the minimum wage could minimally be. How much is that supposed to impact overall so-called “inequality” (a.k.a., the Great Wage Depression)?Denis Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11833367196756465896noreply@blogger.com