What is a decent minimum wage?

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stinkcat_14 said:
You are attempting to tell us what the effect of a minimum wage law is in the US in 2010 by referring to a document 15 years old. Not only that, it is not a peer reviewed document, but a document put out by politicians with an axe to grind. The question is:Are you interested in the truth or are you just pushing an agenda?
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Centuries ago the mathmatics to describe the effect of gravity on an object were developed.

Perhaps we no longer have an understanding of gravity since our information is centuries old.

Perhaps somewhere along the way objects started falling up and to the side.

Or perhaps some people are attempting to hide behind an overly specific (and ultimately meaningless) question.
 
vz71 said:
Centuries ago the mathmatics to describe the effect of gravity on an object were developed.

Perhaps we no longer have an understanding of gravity since our information is centuries old.
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There are new theories of gravity coming out every week. No serious physicist is relying solely on the work of Isaac Newton. Bad example.
 
CPA2 said:
I do not think that we can calculate the impact, if any, of the minimum wage in 2010 without knowing the equilibrium wage in various parts of the country. I have neither the time nor the energy to do that kind of research.
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It would be useful to do that kind of research, but I don’t think that we need to go into that kind of detail. First, let’s look at the the overall size of the labor force. In December 2009 about 137 million people in the US had jobs. Of this number less than 980,000 people worked at jobs that paid the minimum wage. So among employed people, minimum wage earners represented less than 1% of the total employed. Now, there were about 15 million people who were unemployed. In order for the minimum wage to have any significant effect on our unemployment rate we would need two things: a minimum wage that is significantly above equilibrium. Which you may be able to make an argument that this is the case in places like Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi, but clearly this is not the case in most urban areas. The second thing you would need is a very elastic labor demand curve.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
It would be useful to do that kind of research, but I don’t think that we need to go into that kind of detail. First, let’s look at the the overall size of the labor force. In December 2009 about 137 million people in the US had jobs. Of this number less than 980,000 people worked at jobs that paid the minimum wage. So among employed people, minimum wage earners represented less than 1% of the total employed. Now, there were about 15 million people who were unemployed. In order for the minimum wage to have any significant effect on our unemployment rate we would need two things: a minimum wage that is significantly above equilibrium. Which you may be able to make an argument that this is the case in places like Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi, but clearly this is not the case in most urban areas. The second thing you would need is a very elastic labor demand curve.
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If minimum wage is immaterial in 2010, why not get gid of it? Who is supporting the minimum wage in Congress? Who has the self-interest and incentive to support such stupid legislation? Could it be the labor unions?
 
CPA2 said:
If minimum wage is immaterial in 2010, why not get gid of it?
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Getting rid of it would not be a bad idea. It just wouldn’t affect employment in any significant way.
Who is supporting the minimum wage in Congress? Who has the self-interest and incentive to support such stupid legislation? Could it be the labor unions?
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It seems that most of the senators voted for it. 94 voted yes, 3 voted no and 3 did not vote.
 
jmcrae said:
There are new theories of gravity coming out every week. .
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Really?
A new theory on gravity every week? What is your source for this information. I would be interested to know about the 520 new theories of gravity developed over the past 10 years.
 
sidbrown said:
Really?
A new theory on gravity every week? What is your source for this information. I would be interested to know about the 520 new theories of gravity developed over the past 10 years.
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You need to speak to my brother about that; he is a physicist, and he will tell you the details on all 520 of them, and more, if you even look like you might listen. 😉
 
jmcrae said:
You need to speak to my brother about that; he is a physicist, and he will tell you the details on all 520 of them, and more, if you even look like you might listen. 😉
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Sure. And do you also have a bridge in Brooklyn that you are selling quite cheaply? Or would I talk to your bother about that one also?
 
vz71 said:
Centuries ago the mathmatics to describe the effect of gravity on an object were developed.

Perhaps we no longer have an understanding of gravity since our information is centuries old.

Perhaps somewhere along the way objects started falling up and to the side.

Or perhaps some people are attempting to hide behind an overly specific (and ultimately meaningless) question.
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Exactly.
 
jmcrae said:
There are new theories of gravity coming out every week. No serious physicist is relying solely on the work of Isaac Newton. Bad example.
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Actually, it is a perfect example.

No one throws away all of a given field of knowledge when they begin study of it on the basis that such knowledge is out of date.
Neither in economics or physics.

Whether it was dropped centuries ago or now, a dropped object still falls.

Whether 1995 or now, the principles that drive economics are the same.
 
vz71 said:
Whether it was dropped centuries ago or now, a dropped object still falls.
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They fell before the time of Newton, as well, and were observed to do so. Newton came up with the theory of attraction of objects. This is no longer the theory in use - rather, gravity is now considered to be a kind of wave, much like light, or radio.
 
vz71 said:
Whether 1995 or now, the principles that drive economics are the same.
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Actually, I never claimed that the principles of economics are any different in 1995 than they are today. The principles of economics predicts that one of three things could happen when the minimum wage increases:
  1. employment can increase
  2. employment can decrease
  3. employment can change in either direction by a statistically insignificant amount.
To see what happens from any particular iteration of the minimum wage law requires updated facts, which we don’t have from the older studies.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
To see what happens from any particular iteration of the minimum wage law requires updated facts, which we don’t have from the older studies.
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Then you are proposing that the iteration of the minimum wage in 2010 is completely different from the minimum wage laws in place in 1995?
That these laws are disparate enough in fact to change the way they effect the economy?

Seems a tall order to me.
 
vz71 said:
Then you are proposing that the iteration of the minimum wage in 2010 is completely different from the minimum wage laws in place in 1995?
That these laws are disparate enough in fact to change the way they effect the economy?

Seems a tall order to me.
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The key variable is clearly different.
 
vz71 said:
Then you are proposing that the iteration of the minimum wage in 2010 is completely different from the minimum wage laws in place in 1995?
That these laws are disparate enough in fact to change the way they effect the economy?

Seems a tall order to me.
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stinkcat_14 said:
The key variable is clearly different.
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stinkcat_14 said:
The minimum wage.
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So it is your contention that the economic effects are radically different because the minimum wage is higher?

Perhaps you do not understand the economic effects the minimum wage.
Inflation is a big one.

So would I be correct in thinking that your position is that a higher minimum wage will not drive inflation higher?
 
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