It doesn't matter even one bit what the number is. A higher number is arbitrary. Purchasing power is what matters. If less people are working because businesses can't afford the higher wages, then less is produced which means less for everyone no matter how you redistribute it.

If EVERYONE worked, even at 1 cent an hour, more wealth would be created and we could all buy more. Money is after all nothing but a representation of labor. If no one labors, doesn't matter if you have a $500 minimum wage.

Not suggesting that we have a 1 cent minimum wage, but not $16 per hour for flipping burgers either.

balance is key

both extremes have to compromise

just as employers may hire less and therefore produce less due to wages too high

employees may have less In their pocket and therefore have less to spend sue to wages to low ( in which case all that extra that was produced wont matter either)

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2014/05/mcdonald-installs-7000-robot-cashiers

McDonald's in Europe is installing 7,000 kiosks that will allow customers to place their own orders without the assistance of a human cashier,

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2014/05/restaurant-self-order-kiosks

http://mises.org/daily/6638/Welfare-Minimum-Wages-and-Unemployment


as an aside,we are voting whether to install a Minimum-Wage here in Switzerland or not this very weekend!

yep,that's right!

There is NO minimumwage here,and there still might not be!

you already seem to have wages that are double ours on average, I could understand that culture being happy with what they have already,,, and even WITH universal health care

yep,and we managed that without a minimum-Wage!

lol,, different culture,,,greed is a real killer, unity woks bettr,,,

Train! Where ya been bro'?

Chillin like a villain

In America there should be no wage so low that if one was to work a

40 hour week that their take home pay would still be considered

below poverty. Of course you can subsidize with food stamps

Medicaid and subsidized housing..and that puts it right where

large corporations and their over paid CEOs want it right on the

backs of the taxpayers..ASC

Not all jobs were created to be a career. Any job that is no skill not worth the pay increase will (if there was one) would soon find the workers replaced with machines. It is the individuals responsibility to strive for success, to increase their skills set, and to pursue a career/wealth. I am not opposed to assistance in the pursuit of these goals. However I don't agree with raising wage for menial work so people never have to try to improve their situation.

It just fell down on today's Popular Vote!

The Minimumwage demanded by the Unions in the Referendum was 22Sfr,about $25,which would have made it the highest Minimum-Wage in the world!
Well,the Swiss gave it the Thumbs-down!

I am sitting here with Tears in my Eyes,

















from laughing so hard!

Not all jobs were created to be a career. Any job that is no skill not worth the pay increase will (if there was one) would soon find the workers replaced with machines. It is the individuals responsibility to strive for success, to increase their skills set, and to pursue a career/wealth. I am not opposed to assistance in the pursuit of these goals. However I don't agree with raising wage for menial work so people never have to try to improve their situation.







Maybe its not a matter of whether a person can better themselves as

opposed to maybe its just what they can find at the time..or a high

school student or a widow who just lost her husband and was a

housewife all her life and the situations can go on and on..beyond

the reasoning of whether a person is willing to better themselves.So

they should have to work for slave wages because that's all there is

or that's all they can find in the mean time until they can find the

opportunity to make a better wage..and these wages coming from major

corporations who wouldn't have prospered and grown into what they

are today..

if it weren't for the efforts of these so called "menial workers"

Asian, as simplistic as this sounds, it is actually already true for SINGLE people and doable for families.


There could be an extensive discussion here about the difference between being in poverty and having wealth and the LARGE area in between, but your point is on point, let me explain.

IN the Us we have a poverty threshold that is calculated in the following manner:

Poverty line, or poverty threshold, is used to mark the minimum income needed to achieve a satisfactory standard of living. While this may mean different thing in different parts of the world, in the US, being above this threshold means having access to water, food, shelter, education, medical care, and adequate clothing. The poverty line varies widely depending on the state, the number of people living in the household, the number of children in the household, and factors like disability and access to medical care.

http://www.wisegeek.com/in-the-united-states-how-is-the-poverty-line-determined.htm



Now, in 2010 for example, for a single person, that very rarely would they work and be in poverty in the US considering the poverty threshold.

In the US, the poverty line rises or falls every year according to the Consumer Price Index and other factors. In 2010, a single person needed to earn a minimum of $11,139 US Dollars (USD) (more in Alaska and Hawaii) a year to stay over the threshold.

calculating that with a 40 hour work week, the single person only needed 5.35 per hour. Even if we reduced I to a part time 30 hour week that would require 7.15. per hour. There is really no reason any SINGLE person in America working at least 30 hours per week should be in poverty.




the change happens in FAMILIES where individuals are also supporting those BESIDEDS themselves.


In 2010.
A family of four needed a combined income of at least $22,113 USD. According to these guidelines, more than 46.2 million people in the US were living in poverty in that year. Still, for a family with only ONE working member, that would only require a work week of 40 hours at 10.63, which is definitely a doable minimum wage,, imho,, however, IF that one person has less than 40 hours of work a week , the chances for poverty would be higher.



we would lift many out of what is considered 'poverty' with a mere minimum wage of 10.63 per hour, but being in poverty is better than being dead I guess.. so as long as something is better than nothing is our mantra, I don't see the country getting behind any 'mandated' income for anyone......

A high school student doesn't really need to make more than current minimum wage. I worked in high school and college and made minimum wage. I like how my mention big corporations. What about mom and pop shops? I guess we can just squish those guys even more since they don't have the assets to compete already much less if we increase their labor costs. Also you want to give some examples of companies and minimum wage workers? Oh and fast food doesn't work since those are franchised and corporations don't pay wages to store workers the franchise owners do.

generally, minimum wage applies to those employers making more than half a million in sales per year

I wouldnt consider that your standard 'mom and pop'

I'd be very interested where you came up with that rediculous statement.

The Act applies to enterprises with employees who engage in interstate commerce, produce goods for interstate commerce, or handle, sell, or work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce. For most firms, a test of not less than $500,000 in annual dollar volume of business applies (i.e., the Act does not cover enterprises with less than this amount of business).


http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/minwage.htm

Mom and Pop have to not only pay minimum wage, they have to pay SS, pay into the unemployment fund,etc.,etc.

Perhaps, experience in owning a business and hiring a couple workers might enlighten you.

I really have to wonder why some who choose not to be a part of the labor force even care what wages are paid. Long as wailfur pays, all is good, no?

yep, except SS is taken from what the employee earned,,,where the employee is concerned , so their ss comes from the percentage of what they personally earned like everyone else

and , since they aren't having to pay minimum wage its irrelevant to the conversation ABOUT minimum wage in relation to mum and pop (when they have sales than half a mill per year, not a bad amount of sales)

I wonder why those who aren't black even care what blacks do, or those who aren't female care what females do, or those who aren't American care about what americans do,,,

oh ,wait, no I don't, because I kind of AKNOWLEDGE no one is living in a vacuum and peoples actions directly and indirectly are tied to each other in some way, tied to the community in which they must live TOGETHER,,,