02-19-2021, 05:07 PM
(02-19-2021, 04:46 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Let me say that I'm FAR from an expert on stuff like this (I took two Econ classes in college 20 years ago), but I just wanted to share my thought process on a drastic mimimum wage hike.
Am I totally off-base in thinking that eventually the person making $15 an hour at minimum wage will end having similar spending power as the person who currently is at $8 bucks an hour?
Won't all salaries correct themselves in this new market? If the person making 8 bucks an hour now is making 15 won't the plumber's apprentice making $12 now make like $20? Won't the warehouse worker making $15 now make like $25. Won't this correction occur throughout every level of employment?
If my thoughts above are correct then you still have many of the same problems you have now do you not?
If a person who is currently making, say, 17k a year is now making 30k a year, what are the chances their rent stays, say, at $800 a month? That will follow suit too, right?
Fwiw, I know it's WAY more complicated than how I'm describing it but I don't simply changing the minimum wage is some perfect fix. Inflation will occur for a number of reasons outside cost of labor.
Am I wrong? I'm honestly curious if someone can help be better understand what it is I may be missing.
Wages at the top of the scale have been going up dramatically for years without forcing all other wages up.
I believe forcing wages up at the bottom will have some effect into the middle, but not all the way to the top. Just because the person at the bottom sees his wages go from $10 to $15 that does not mean a person in the upper middle will see his wages go from $100K to $150K.
