As We've Been Saying, California's Minimum Wage Rises Increase Unemployment

[Masark]

If you don't care about the efficiency of the economy it can be.

Yes, the economy is highly efficient. But all the gains from that efficiency are bring funnelled up and the people actually working are getting fuck-all. That there is your "class warfare".

[Hemak]

I still can't get over $15 /hr min wage. I guess it makes sense in CA, but damn that's double the min wage where I live. That's why I don't see how raising the min wage of the whole country to $15 /hr makes any sense. They got people fighting over $10 /hr. jobs at Walmart right now because of the down turn in oil. (Thanks John Kerry and Barack Obama, we really appreciate that Iranian deal. We can't wait until Hillary and her Saudi friends starve us to death.)

[Anevers]

I still can't get over $15 /hr min wage. I guess it makes sense in CA, but damn that's double the min wage where I live. That's why I don't see how raising the min wage of the whole country to $15 /hr makes any sense. They got people fighting over $10 /hr. jobs at Walmart right now because of the down turn in oil. (Thanks John Kerry and Barack Obama, we really appreciate that Iranian deal. We can't wait until Hillary and her Saudi friends starve us to death.)

Minimum wage isn't $15 yet, we won't see it until 2021 January first. At the moment Minimum wage is $10 per hour. The city of Seattle does have a $15 minimum wage though they would be the ones to watch. So far it hasn't proven to be detrimental.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business...mum-wage-hike/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/business/n...tml/?a=viewall
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3059118/a...-retail-prices

Though we'll see how this changes overtime. By the time California reaches it's $15 in about 5.5 years from now it might not be such a big deal. California does have a higher minimum wage than other states but California does have a higher cost of living to balance it out.

[GennGreymane]

It's not a minimal factor in the minds of business owner though. They aren't paying people minimum wage because they want to fuck them over, rather they feel it is what they are owed based off of the work being done. I do not disagree that there are a variety of other factors though, but this isn't the first time we've seen minimum wage increases negatively effect communities, in particular they've done a lot of damage to black communities where mostly young workers are suddenly seen as expendable. It's very clearly an important factor on a variety of levels, but I would definitely agree it's not the only factor when it comes to a business struggling.

What's even worse is said workers don't just miss out on money, but they miss out on the equally important work experience itself, which is crucial for young people to attain, which can then impact the economy long term.

People cant afford that experience anymore. Inflation has gone up too much. Please, keep it logical, your response went straight to emotional rather than factual.

[Bollocks]

Who would have thought a hike in the minimum wage would be detrimental? (Sarcasm) anyway an increase on the minimum wage is not the problem but the amount it has been increased.

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Minimum wage isn't $15 yet, we won't see it until 2021 January first. At the moment Minimum wage is $10 per hour. The city of Seattle does have a $15 minimum wage though they would be the ones to watch. So far it hasn't proven to be detrimental.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business...mum-wage-hike/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/business/n...tml/?a=viewall
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3059118/a...-retail-prices

Though we'll see how this changes overtime. By the time California reaches it's $15 in about 5.5 years from now it might not be such a big deal. California does have a higher minimum wage than other states but California does have a higher cost of living to balance it out.

Each state is different. That is why the federal minimum wage is "low" to allow flexibility for other states.

[Anevers]

Who would have thought an increase of 50% in the minimal wage would cause that muchart damage? (Sarcasm) anyway an increase on the minimum wage is not the problem but the amount it has been increased.

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Each state is different. That is why the federal minimum wage is "low" to allow flexibility for other states.

Yes I know, not sure why you felt this was relevant to what I posted.

[Draco-Onis]

I still can't get over $15 /hr min wage. I guess it makes sense in CA, but damn that's double the min wage where I live. That's why I don't see how raising the min wage of the whole country to $15 /hr makes any sense. They got people fighting over $10 /hr. jobs at Walmart right now because of the down turn in oil. (Thanks John Kerry and Barack Obama, we really appreciate that Iranian deal. We can't wait until Hillary and her Saudi friends starve us to death.)

Oil was already very low even before the Iranian deal, the reason for the plunge of oil is because OPEC broke down thanks to the Saudis always taking it on the chin while countries like Venezuela and Russia keep pumping. It's not really any of these people you are blaming unless you are against an open market, all OPEC was doing was artificially keeping the price up.

[Hemak]

Minimum wage isn't $15 yet, we won't see it until 2021 January first. At the moment Minimum wage is $10 per hour. The city of Seattle does have a $15 minimum wage though they would be the ones to watch. So far it hasn't proven to be detrimental.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business...mum-wage-hike/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/business/n...tml/?a=viewall
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3059118/a...-retail-prices

Though we'll see how this changes overtime. By the time California reaches it's $15 in about 5.5 years from now it might not be such a big deal. California does have a higher minimum wage than other states but California does have a higher cost of living to balance it out.

Yeah I get that, cost of living an all. I'm talking about people who talk about a National $15 /hr. min wage or a National min wage en general.

[Stonecloak]

It's not bad enough these people trap themselves in a sewage infested bottle, they have to try and stick everyone else in it too, because their brains can't fathom anything else. Thanks!

[truckboattruck]

artificial increases in wages are not a sign of good economics and hurt the employer

THE MARKET PAYS WHAT THE MARKET WILL BEAR

[Orange Joe]

Who would have thought a hike in the minimum wage would be detrimental? (Sarcasm) anyway an increase on the minimum wage is not the problem but the amount it has been increased..

You probably should have read it instead of just jumping on the bandwagon. California unemployment rates matched the entire nations. Meaning it was likely something else that caused it not minimum wage.

[Anevers]

Yeah I get that, cost of living an all. I'm talking about people who talk about a National $15 /hr. min wage or a National min wage en general.

Ah, that makes sense. Though I wonder what the Federal minimum wage would be like if it was tied to inflation and cost of living though.

[Draco-Onis]

You probably should have read it instead of just jumping on the bandwagon. California unemployment rates matched the entire nations. Meaning it was likely something else that caused it not minimum wage.

The answer is in the OP this whole thread is nonsense the unemployment rate went up because more people entered the labor market.

[dubious_doomhammer]

Yes, the economy is highly efficient. But all the gains from that efficiency are bring funnelled up and the people actually working are getting fuck-all. That there is your "class warfare".

So much for "fair" distribution of wealth.

http://www.businessinsider.com/inequ...u-think-2015-6

Here is one of the more shocking charts, which reveals that the bottom 80% of Americans have just 7% of the nation's wealth:

I realize that people in STEM fields, or trades, or CEO's should probably make a bit more money, but god damn ... if some of that wealth was actually distributed to the lower / "middle" (lol what middle?) class in the form of jobs ... I wonder what crime, poverty, and drug use would look like afterwards.

[Anevers]

artificial increases in wages are not a sign of good economics and hurt the employer

THE MARKET PAYS WHAT THE MARKET WILL BEAR

The market has a history of paying the littlest possible and even company scrip if it can get away with it. No need to shout.

[RickJamesLich]

People cant afford that experience anymore. Inflation has gone up too much. Please, keep it logical, your response went straight to emotional rather than factual.

Yeah I don't feel like busting out Thomas Sowell videos just yet but will if necessary lol. We do know for sure that raising the minimum wage effects the youth, and in many cases, minority youths more than anyone else. We've seen this often in America, but if you want links, here's some:

http://wol.iza.org/articles/effects-...and-income.pdf

http://fortune.com/2015/07/30/122372...ers-fast-food/

http://www.usnews.com/news/the-repor...r-hurt-workers

I could post 50 more but you get the idea. This is a pretty huge deal because many of these folks already have trouble breaking into the work force. An unstable work history makes it much harder to land higher pay jobs down the road, for obvious reasons. Essentially it's exacerbating the problem of poverty for *some* in the work force, but of course not all. There is no doubt that many at the same time will be able to get jobs and benefit from the higher wages - but at what price to the rest?

So while you personally may feel that the minimum wage increase is not a big deal for small deal to businesses, it seems pretty clear that not only would small businesses disagree, but so would the people who look to them for jobs.

[Super Kami Dende]

Maybe the Unemployment rise is due to a larger population without as many jobs going with it.

[Hemak]

Oil was already very low even before the Iranian deal, the reason for the plunge of oil is because OPEC broke down thanks to the Saudis always taking it on the chin while countries like Venezuela and Russia keep pumping. It's not really any of these people you are blaming unless you are against an open market, all OPEC was doing was artificially keeping the price up.

But what exactly did we get out of the Iranian deal? People in the gulf coast got unemployment, and Iran got the keep their nuclear program and no longer had economic sanctions. The price was falling before but the Iranian deal sure as hell didn't help.

[alexw]

Hmm...California, ranked as least business-friendly state, blows past all others in job creation

Economist Christopher Thornberg, a founding partner with Beacon Economics, noted last week that California’s reputation for being unfriendly to businesses hasn’t slowed the state’s forward momentum — particularly in job creation.

“You could argue that just in the last four months we have finally erased the last residuals of the Great Recession out of the labor market,” he said. “And of course California, once written off as a disaster of business unfriendliness, is continuing to lead the nation in terms of economic growth.”
Figures show California added nearly 447,000 new jobs last year, more than Texas and Florida combined.

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Of course Forbes won't ever come near such a stat since it wouldn't support their libertarian bullshit narrative.

Now for actual economists this result is not surprising whatsoever. Its been known for a good few years now that its a lack of aggregate demand that is holding the economy back not tax rates. All that California is really doing is taxing away a bit more of the massive surplus of unused income of the wealthy and putting it back into circulation in the real economy. So instead of pumping up asset prices of one sort of another it creates real-world economic activity.

Of course CATO et al are not full of real economists but paid shills.....

[Draco-Onis]

But what exactly did we get out of the Iranian deal? People in the gulf coast got unemployment, and Iran got the keep their nuclear program and no longer had economic sanctions. The price was falling before but the Iranian deal sure as hell didn't help.

Iran didn't make a dent compared to what was already been unleashed on the market once the Saudis decided they were going to go for market share and not let U.S oil production and other countries take over. The race got started there with every country trying to compete , the current price of oil is the price is where it should have been all along. The people on the gulf may have lost their jobs but economy got a boost from it since people now pay a lot less at the pump.

As for the Iranian deal it's an investment in the future, this belongs in another thread and obviously opinions will vary.