Category: Wages
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Wednesday, July 09, 2014
Why Seattle’s Minimum Wage Hike Matters to Seniors / Economics / Wages
By: Don_Miller
The US is gearing up for mid-term elections this November 4—so much so that Rolling Stone announced the relaunch of the “Rock the Vote” campaign last month (according to one of the younger members of my team). And just like clockwork, minimum wage is making headlines again too. It’s déjà vu all over again.
At a breakfast some 20 years ago, I sat next to a prominent, high-ranking US senator now long retired. He showed us data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicating that every time the minimum wage went up, more unemployment followed. Businesses were forced to ship jobs offshore—whether they wanted to or not—and started looking for ways to automate low- or unskilled jobs.
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Tuesday, July 08, 2014
Real Earnings of Private Employees Declined Again in May / Economics / Wages
By: PhilStockWorld
Courtesy of Doug Short. Here is a look at two key numbers in last week’s monthly employment report for June:
- Average Hourly Earnings
- Average Weekly Hours
The government has been tracking the data for Production and Nonsupervisory Employees for decades. But coverage of Total Private Employees only dates from March 2006.
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Monday, June 30, 2014
Minimum Wage, Maximum Stupidity / Politics / Wages
By: Douglas_French
By Doug French, Contributing Editor
The minimum wage should be the easiest issue to understand for the economically savvy. If the government arbitrarily sets a floor for wages above that set by the market, jobs will be lost. Even the Congressional Budget Office admits that 500,000 jobs would be lost with a $10.10 federal minimum wage. Who knows how high the real number would be?
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Even the Feds Admit Minimum Wages Cause Unemployment / Economics / Wages
By: MISES
Nicholas Freiling writes: Minimum wage doesn’t apply to everyone.
When Congress first established minimum wage in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, it left a loophole for businesses that employ people with disabilities.
Read full article... Read full article...The Secretary, to the extent necessary to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment, shall by regulation or order provide for the employment, under special certificates, of individuals ... whose earning or productive capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency, or injury, at wages which are lower than the minimum wage.
Monday, June 16, 2014
The Data Is Clear: Free Markets Reduce Poverty / Economics / Wages
By: MISES
D.W. MacKenzie writes: Some Catholic clergy have, once again, denounced supporters of laissez-faire capitalism. Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga claims that the free market economy is “a new idol” which creates inequality, excludes the poor, and that “this economy kills.” Cardinal Maradiaga does not speak alone. He quoted Pope Francis in his recent remarks and claimed that since the Pope “grew up in Argentina,” he“has a profound knowledge of the life of the poor.”
Saturday, May 31, 2014
The High Cost of Minimum Wages / Economics / Wages
By: MISES
In Switzerland on May 18 there was a vote to establish a minimum wage rate at a world record $25 an hour: the vote was rejected overwhelmingly as an estimated 76 percent voted against it.
As USA Today reported, there have been strong opinions in both directions. Luisa Almeida, a Portuguese immigrant working in Switzerland, said that she’s against the increase because according to her,“if my employer had to pay me more money, he wouldn’t be able to keep me on and I’d lose the job.” Furthermore, even though Switzerland does not currently have any laws regarding minimum wage rates, Luisa said she already makes more than she would at home in Portugal (where minimum wage is $4.19 per hour).
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Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Killing the Maximum-Wage Myth / Economics / Wages
By: MISES
Julian Adorney writes: As Bill Maher indicates, the issue of a maximum wage is one that simply will not go away. The comedian and liberal pundit recently expressed support for a maximum wage of $300,000, arguing that wages for the bottom 90 percent of Americans stagnated while worker productivity rose. Greedy executives, in Maher’s scenario, are robbing the worker and seizing more than their fair share.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Let the Economic Data Speak: The Truth Behind Minimum Wage Laws / Economics / Wages
By: Steve_H_Hanke
President Obama set the chattering classes abuzz after his recent unilateral announcement to raise the minimum wage for newly hired Federal contract workers. During his State of the Union address in January, he sang the praises for his decision, saying that “It’s good for the economy; it’s good for America.” As the worldwide economic slump drags on, the political drumbeat to either introduce minimum wage laws (read: Germany) or increase the minimums in countries where these laws exist – such as Indonesia – is becoming deafening. Yet the glowing claims about minimum wage laws don’t pass the economic smell test. Just look at the data from Europe (see the accompanying chart).Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, February 15, 2014
How Special-Interest Groups Benefit from Minimum Wage Laws / Economics / Wages
By: MISES
Gary M. Galles writes: Those campaigning for a substantial jump in the minimum wage all assert that the purpose is to help working families. Unfortunately, careful students of the evidence come to a different conclusion. As Mark Wilson summarized it, “evidence from a large number of academic studies suggests that minimum wage increases don’t reduce poverty levels.”
Thursday, September 26, 2013
California Hikes Wages 25%, Saves US Economy! / Stock-Markets / Wages
By: PhilStockWorld
California is raising the Minimum Wage to $10 an hour!
Unfortunately, not until 2016 but this is exactly what we need to really move the economy forward so first break in the dam, thank goodness. Still, it's a 25% increase over 2 years, not bad and not a bad reason to buy gold and silver (yesterday's play on SLW is a good start) as California, no matter how wacky you think they are, usually leads the nation in necessary reforms and this is one that's been a long time coming.
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Monday, September 23, 2013
The Trajectory of Global Wage Equalization / Economics / Wages
By: Submissions
Keith Hilden writes: We are in a world in which our current governments, current monetary policies, current developmental policies, and current macroeconomic conditions are creating a new world in which wages will be set by skill, the ability to do the job, and productivity, rather than geographic location. A country's location on the globe is no longer a guarantee of the success of the inhabitants of that country, now that the globalized economy has arrived. This will further be achieved by the development of areas of the globe that as of now have largely missed out on economic development prospects. A CPA of equivalent ability and work produced in Africa will make roughly as much as a CPA in New York. A bus driver in Oklahoma City will make roughly as much as a bus driver in Tallinn, Estonia working the same amount. The ability to access these higher-paying jobs via higher education and training, and a solid educational foundation in their country of adolescence will still be a factor in separating higher wage jobs from lower wage jobs, but once anyone in the world is able to attain those requirements, they make roughly the same wages for the work produced, regardless of geographic location. Based on the trajectory the world is currently on, this will take a generation or so to occur. This is the track that governments and policymakers across the world have chosen our world to follow.