With all the companies raising their min wage to at least $13-$15 hour it’s going to get harder and harder for sears/Kmart to get people to work for them
You would think sears/Kmart would raise their min wage to at bare min of $11 an hour instead of min wage with no future raises ever
I’m sure customers would see that as a good thing and quite possibly come back to shop
If sears/Kmart can’t compete with other retailers and pay its employees a living wage they need to just close
Post ID: @YuSJrqp-4vee said: "YuSJrqp-4xlk You're wrong, increasing the wages so much will only cause more companies to RAISE prices. I agree at some point, yes raise the wages, but if you raise them up too damn high and quickly it will cause grocery stores to raise food prices; raise gas prices, raise rent, etc. etc. It will also make business either raise their prices in their stores because they have to pay more for workers, or force automation.
Face it, as soon as wages go up, everything else does in the process."
There is no history to draw upon in this country to directly analyze the effects of a $20 minimum wage, but what we do have suggests rather clearly that whatever level of minimum wage might begin to have a chilling effect on jobs, we have yet to reach it.
In 1968 the minimum wage was $1.60/hr and had its highest purchasing power ($11.76/hr). Minimum wage has increased in a linear fashion in terms of dollars (2019 $7.25/hr), but in terms of real dollars, minimum wage has declined sharply from its highest point.
Since 1968, the US per capita GDP, allowing for inflation, has risen by 125%
If the minimum wage rose in line with GDP, it would be at $24.63.
GDP has risen by an average of 1.7% per year. Putting the minimum wage up to $20 would be the equivalent of an average 0.85% rise above inflation, each year. That seems fairly modest.
The whole concept of sellers being able to "pass on" either costs or savings to consumers is a vast oversimplification promoted by right-wing mouthpieces to people who are unable to grasp actual economic principles. Market pricing is not merely a direct function of production costs...inflation doesn't work that way. Raising the minimum wage doesn't increase the amount of money that exists, it just forces more of into the hands of those on the lower end of the economic ladder. Raising the minimum wage would only increase prices on goods if there wasn't enough goods. America produces more than enough for everyone (evidenced by the amount of food and other goods that groceries stores are forced to throw away everyday). The poor just don't have enough money to buy them. Even then, giving the poor more purchasing power would probably actually increase the supply of goods for them, because it would shift production from luxury goods to the basic necessity (the market follows the money, not the other way around).
In our current situation, there is no requirement that an increase in the minimum wage necessitates an increase in retail prices.....prices are decoupled from labor costs because productivity has been rising steadily for the last 30 years while wages have remained stagnant. Where has the surplus value gone? Gone to the owning class (CEO salaries and stock dividends) rather than the working class. There is a huge amount of give-back on the profit side before we are in a situation where further increases in wages would be inflationary.
You know that whole "inequality" thing? It is directly related to the split between profits and wages. We are in a situation of extreme imbalance, thanks to Reagan and Thatcher and 30 years of upper class shifting of wealth to the top, and there can be a whole lot of wage adjustment done before worrying about the inflationary impact.
Maybe, just maybe, expectations for high profits for everything is the actual culprit ....
@YuSJrqp-4xlk You're wrong, increasing the wages so much will only cause more companies to RAISE prices. I agree at some point, yes raise the wages, but if you raise them up too damn high and quickly it will cause grocery stores to raise food prices; raise gas prices, raise rent, etc. etc. It will also make business either raise their prices in their stores because they have to pay more for workers, or force automation.
Face it, as soon as wages go up, everything else does in the process.
Post ID: @YuSJrqp-1pqo said:
"I see the American education system has taken its toll in the area of basic economics. Minimum wage of $20 per hour. Unsustainable and anyone advocating this is either clinically insane or completely devoid of an understanding of modern economics."
Another person carrying the Heritage Foundation's water. Rather than posting preconceived ideas you picked up at whatever republican board you most recently visited and bringing that garbage here, do yourself and all the rest of us a favor- take some time to look into the truth.
For one thing, paying someone the minimum wage is and always has been predatory. The only thing raising the minimum wage does is make it less so. The US government subsidizes the poor at levels well above poverty thresholds, and even a $20 minimum wage doesn't raise many of them out of that.
States that have already raised their minimum wage have experienced more economic growth and employment than those who haven't.
Look up almost any major business who pays their employees a living wage and constantly out preforms every cut-rate business, you might see the light and determine that when the people make money so do the big corporations. Rather than trickle down we get trickle up- if the "masses" have money they spend it and the economy moves along nicely and the money ends up in the wealthy peoples pockets anyway- it just takes a little longer but allows the lower 99% to prosper.
Raising the minimum wage isn't simply to get minimum wage workers more money- the goal is to lift wages across the board to change the game, narrow the ever-widening inequality gap.
they need for employees is decreasing daily
They are closing. Yes. They can not afford to pay above minimum wage set by states. If they did that they would aleady be closed. Food for thought. Game over.
I see the American education system has taken its toll in the area of basic economics. Minimum wage of $20 per hour. Unsustainable and anyone advocating this is either clinically insane or completely devoid of an understanding of modern economics.
Keep in mind last year ( Oct 2018)BOA laid off approx. 90,000. Additionally their branches are moving to all automated. Meaning most of the customers interactions will be with an ATM or call center. I feel the reason they are raising their min. wage is they will have staff the branches extremely light meaning whom ever is staying has to do the work of a teller/banker/manager. While they are raising their min. wage they are not growing headcount and they are cutting hours, this is a PR ploy to appease the public into thinking they are doing great things.
Profitable companies like BOA, can afford to raise wages and will raise fees for over-drafts, wire transfers, etc. a small amount to cover the additional cost.
Companies, like Sears, who don't make a profit, can't afford to increase wages and will raise prices for their goods and services merely to stay in business.
LOL like they are going to around in 2 years. The purpose of new sears is to let Eddie take control of the remaining assets and sell them
California's minimum wage is $12 an hour. As the minimum wage goes up hours and staffing go down.