Portland increases minimum wage

Interesting that Portland apparently hasn't crashed and burned since they increased the minimum wage despite all the protests that it would cause great problems.

I wonder if the states who are resisting increasing the minimum wage like those that were mentioned (North Carolina and Alabama for example) might not become like the Maritime provinces in Canada from a financial perspective? Until the drop in oil prices, a significant number of Nova Scotia residents (and including a lot of husbands, sons, dads) left for Alberta to work there.

Will the young move away from those states as they seek better pay elsewhere and leaving a greater and greater aging population (who contribute very little to local economies)? Will the dropping population inhibit the creation of new businesses/jobs. Will medical services diminish because doctors don't want to locate in an area where their kids will be moving away from because there are no opportunities for them? And even as the states see falling wages (comparatively speaking) and continually rising prices for products, will those states see a change from being a thriving part of the country, to a byword and a backwater region that is seen as 'quaint' but with a diminishing contribution to the well being of the whole?

I was reading up on the issue of government providing a guaranteed income and apparently studies have been done that suggest that even that actually contributes greatly to the economy of a region. It means that people can afford to buy better food so health costs actually go down. It also means that kids stay in school longer which can impact policing costs and I believe that it said it also resulted in a reduction of people being forced to stay on welfare. They didn't have to chose between their welfare payment and the reduced wages of a part time job that might one day be a stepping stone to full time employment and getting off welfare permanently. And those who were on welfare and found low paying part time jobs didn't get their welfare payments cut accordingly so they had more money to spend which naturally, went right back into the local economy (better food, more food, clothes for the kids, enrolment in programs, etc.). Seems to me that raising the minimum wage would do the same thing and in the long run would benefit those regions including the employers who are fighting against this.
 
All the conservative myths against raising the minimum wage have been debunked over and over and yet they keep repeating the same old same old.
 

I suppose that long ago the objection to compulsory primary schooling for children was that it would ruin the economy because they would not then be available to work in the mines, factories and fields. But the economy survived and even grew as the children lived longer and became productive workers.
 
Competition is what controls the economy and where people live and work. Minimum wages are nothing but politically force raise in costs of living.

In the US we have many different subcultures that are doing just fine. We have places like California and New Your City where housing is extremely costly and cost of living is higher. We also have places like Ohio and Texas where the cost of housing is a small portion of California and wages can be lower to match the needs of the public.

When I lived in California I bought a brand new house in San Jose for about $14,500. Today that same house is in a neighborhood of $350K to $450K sales. I was just looking for a house in Ohio and likes one for only $115,000. It is about 1400 sq ft, 2 br, 2 full bath, 2 car garage. Here in Arizona I have a house of about 1800 sq ft, 4 br, 2 full bath, 2 car garage, for about $140,000.

Our economy should allow all cities, states, districts, what ever to allow them to work with the economy and their needs. False things like minimum wages just do not do what some think is right. For businesses they will raise the wages to keep the good workers, if they can, otherwise the businesses will go broke and close. Government controlled economies are not working and never have. Free market is working and that is why many US companies have left the US and are now working elsewhere. Want them back, get the government out of the way and likely many will return.
 
I just finished the long article in first post. Even with the final few paragraphs mentioning the problems, there was no comment on the cost of living for us old folks on fixed incomes. Those workers are now happy with high working wages but nobody discussed how a once $5 dollar pizza is now $10 or $15. Nobody has commented on how the $2 dollar sandwiches in Arby's or Mac's or elsewhere are now running at $4 or $6 each. All this is really good for us on fixed incomes?

Why family workers are now in line to work at these quickie places is because far too many of our well paying businesses have left this country and are now hiring overseas some place. We need to bring them back and put some stability into our work places once again. Our economy has been trashed out by our politicians and until they do start looking at the entire picture our economy will stay trashed out.
 
Warrigal said:
I suppose that long ago the objection to compulsory primary schooling for children was that it would ruin the economy because they would not then be available to work in the mines, factories and fields. But the economy survived and even grew as the children lived longer and became productive workers.
Click to expand...


Good point Warrigal. And there's always short term pain when societal changes happen, but that's half the problem isn't it? Politicians only want to make changes that show short term gain and screw the future. After all, they might/will die and won't benefit from those future benefits but in the short term....they'll get re-elected. 'Me-ism' in action.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top