A major problem facing us today is the minimum wage. It has become controversial recently because people no longer feel that the current wage is enough to live off of. Numerous government bills have been purposed to raise the minimum to around $10.00, However, there is hesitation because of many employment problems that are projected to occur because of it. The low wage workers demanding an increase are being short sited, and they are not considering the consequences in the long term. What if the consequences outweigh the gain? With an increase in minimum wage, many people will lose their jobs because their companies can no longer afford to keep them. People higher up will also experience pay cuts, and you even risk the company outsourcing to another country with cheaper labor or moving entirely out, causing hundreds of thousands of people to lose their jobs.
Many economists have researched the outcome of the raise of the minimum wage, and they have come up with incredibly varied results. Alan Krueger, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, argues that "Increasing the minimum wage does not have significant effects on employment." While David Newmark (a professor of economics and director of the Center for Economics and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine) and William Wascher (Deputy Associate Director in the Division of Research and Statistics at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) say that "Workers are made worse off overall when the minimum wage goes up." This is supported by Todd Palmer (founder and president of Troy-based Diversified Industrial Staffing and Diversified PEOple), who says that low wage jobs will be lost in the long run "as employers switch to labor-saving methods of production (i.e. automation, outsourcing overseas)". Because of this, Congress has yet to sway the minds of their opposing parties. Republicans argue that raising the minimum wage will kill jobs, while democrats argue that it will lift hundreds of people out of poverty. According to Congressional Budget Office (CBO), both arguments are correct. They say that "A $10.10 increase would lift 900,000 workers above the poverty line, but cost 500,000 jobs." Do the benefits outweigh the loss?
The raise in minimum wage would have consequence that are greatly related to what we learned in AP Human Geography. Things such as outsourcing, and exporting jobs pertain to chapters 9, 3, and 11. Economic factors relate to chapter 9, and my reference to Detroit references chapter 13.
I found the minimum wage increase interesting, because it seems like a verry major problem in our contry, that most media seems to be ignoring. that strikes me as odd
Thoma, Mark. "Does Raising the Minimum Wage Really Help Workers?" CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 15 Feb. 2013. Web. 21 May 2014.
Lowrey, Annie. "Minimum Wage Increase Would Have Mixed Effects, C.B.O. Report Says." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 20 May 2014. Harris, Benjamin H., and Melissa S. Kearney. "The "ripple" effect of a minimum wage increase on american workers." Brookings Institution. Brookings, 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 May 2014. Numark, David. "The Minimum Wage Ain't What It Used to Be." Economix The Minimum Wage Aint What It Used to Be Comments. The New York Times, 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 29 May 2014. Neumark, David, and William L. Wascher. Minimum Wages and Employment: A Review of Evidence from the New Minimum Wage Research. Cambridge, MA: National Bure Olen, John. "Raising Minimum Wage Won’t Help If Companies Are Free to Outsource | Economy In Crisis." Economy In Crisis RSS. Americas Economic Report, 17 Feb. 2014. Web. 29 May 2014.au of Economic Research, 2006. Web. Palmer, Todd. "The Downsides of Increasing Minimum Wage." Blogs Employment. Dbuisness, 30 May 2014. Web. 30 May 2014 Pictures: http://www.progressillinois.com/2008/04/08/il-top-of-the-class-on-immigrant-rights http://dc.ocls.info/memory/image/edgewater-high-school-diploma-1958 http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-philippines-beats-india-to-be-the-worlds-bpo-capital/20101208.htm#3 |
AuthorDaniel Bennett is a student in Mrs. West's AP Human Geography class, who finds domestic problems quite interesting, and would like others to be aware. Archives |