A Balanced View On The Minimum Wage

Paying for a college education creates a dilemma when a student only earns minimum wage flipping burgers at a local fast food restaurant. The current federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 per hour before taxes. The debate on whether it should increase or remain constant has been occurring for many years. Raising the minimum wage to match the current cost of living seems like a good idea, but this could cause some negative effects. John Komlos’ article “Why raising the minimum wage is good economics” delivers a more effective argument than Rex Huppke’s article “The argument against raising minimum wage” through the use of ethos, logos, and a valid conclusion.

Ira Knight, who is an author of article “Let’s Make the Minimum Wage a Living Wage”, expresses an opinion that increasing the minimum wage would help all struggling workers and at the same time improve U.S economy. On the other side, Janice Steele in her article “Keep the Minimum Wage Where It Is” argues that raising the minimum wage would have bad effects on workers, consumers and small businesses. Ira Knight’s article seems to be the stronger of the two positions because her arguments are based on several recent studies, and last but not least, she had a personal experience with the minimum wage job.

Raising minimum wage has been an ongoing issue for many years. Similar to every debatable issue, pros and cons are inevitable. In the United States, minimum wage started when the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) was passed and minimum wage started at 25 cents per hour. The purpose of setting a minimum wage is to set a maximum workweek and to eliminate child labor. It is defined to be the least amount of money employers are obligated to pay their employees by law. As the years passed, the minimum wage began to increase to accommodate the growing economy. Although the wage has increased from a mere 25 cents per hour to $7.25 over the course of 75 years, living expenses are much higher causing many people to be poverty stricken (Debate.org). President Obama proposes raising the minimum wage, so that it would help minimize the income gap in America. However, most business organizations and the Republicans oppose to the idea, saying that it could potentially lead to more economic problems. While both sides have valid points, which one provides a more compelling argument? In the United States, the minimum wage should be raised in every state; therefore workers can have a more comfortable standard of living, lower the poverty line, and minimize the income gap.

The issue of the minimum wage has recently come to the forefront of the debate on social policy. There is much disagreement over the wisdom of an increase in the minimum wage in the current fragile economic recovery. Some argue that a dramatic increase is what is needed in order to lift the standard of living for those in the bottom of the economic pyramid. Economists reason that the basic principle of supply and demand mandates than an increase in the wage would result in the loss of available jobs. Small businesses maintain that it would spell their doom.

An increase in the minimum wage would push companies to take this route as it becomes more and more profitable to them. The end result of all of this would be a suddenly increased level of unemployment bound to become subsequent with an increase in government-funded welfare expenses, weakening the economy even more.

The minimum wage debate brings about a range of reactions from different people. There are those who believe that there shouldn’t even be a minimum wage and that wages should be determined by the markets. On the other hand, we have those who vigorously argue for increasing the wage minimum citing inflation, the poverty line and worker productivity. Regardless, we do have a federal minimum wage rate in the United States at $7.25 per hour, with some states having a higher minimum wage than the federal minimum. President Obama, in his first state of the union address of his second term proposed “Tonight, let’s declare that, in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour” (The White House 2013). A year later, he has revised that number to $10.10 per hour after signing an executive order that has already raised the minimum wage for federal workers to that number. (The White House 2014). With more and more states raising their own minimum wage, a minimum wage increase seems almost imminent with Democrats and Republicans getting closer to a deal. (Bolton 2014). But we are more interested in the efficiency of a minimum wage implemented at the federal level. The main question that surrounds this debate is whether this price floor in labor markets is efficient given that the stated goal of the minimum wage is to make sure full-time workers earn a living wage and are above the poverty line.

Over the past few years the debate over the raise of the federal minimum wage of the current $7.25 has been argued by both sides, whether it should be raised or not. With both side, the affirmative and negative making strong arguments for their side. We will take a look at how each side frames their issues as how well their counterpart can refute those claims. The affirmative would like to propose the raise of the federal minimum wage to $12.00 by the year 2020; this is the standard that most states are going with. For example, California being one of the most recent to change their federal minimum wage to $12.00 by the year 2020. The negative would like to stay with the current federal minimum wage of $7.25, in other words defend the status quo. We will look at all the major arguments the affirmative and negative side have and in the end go with the best option for the majority. Aristotle’s three fundamental concepts will help determine what decision should be made after each side of the public state their case. Aristotle’s three fundamental concepts are truth and probable truth, Ethos (Credibility), Pathos (Emotional Appeal), Logos (Logic), and his final concept, it’s all about the audience. So what exactly is the minimum wage and what is its purpose? Minimum wage is the minimum an employer has to pay an unskilled worker based on the regulations set forth by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that was originally established in 1938 according to the United States

The diagram to the left shows how a trade union can force a rise in wages, but it could lead to a cut in the number of jobs. If the union secures the rise in wages from W1 to W2, the trade union mark up, then this leads to an increase in wages. However it also intersects the demand curve at a much higher point

When there is a change of one of the factors of supply- like changes in the prices of production inputs like labour or capital; a change in production technology and its associated productivity change; or the amount of competition in a specific product market- there is a corresponding change in the supply curve. For example, if worker productivity improves due to some human capital or technology investment, then the costs of production decrease. This exerts a positive effect on the supply curve shifting it right, where the new market equilibrium is at a higher quantity and a lower price, holding everything else constant. There can also be a negative shift that moves the supply curve to the left, with the resulting market clearing price being higher and quantity lower, ceteris

I agree with this article, written by Niels Veldhuis, to the extent that minimum wage negatively affects the economy, by increasing unemployment. However, if I were Veldhuis I would have added that the social values of minimum wage may outweigh the negative effects on the economy. This matter is a value judgement, which cannot be proved right or wrong by economics. Veldhuis supports his statement with proof from studies; I will explain these findings with further microeconomic theory. I will discuss the following to reflect upon the accuracy of his arguments: theories of producer behavior and cost minimization, market equilibrium, welfare, and the importance of value judgements.

Minimum wage is a disputatious issue because it is contested in an array and discriminatory audience. Minimum wage I believe is the epicenter of the economist’s sphere of interest as he in constantly in hot pursuit in finding its relationship with job loss.

If the minimum wage is above the equilibrium level, the quantity of labour supplied exceeds the quantity demanded. The result is unemployment. The minimum wage then raises the income of those workers who have jobs, but it lowers the incomes of those workers that cannot find jobs. Workers with high skills and much experience are not affected, because their equilibrium wages are well above the minimum. An example of a price ceiling is rent control. The goal of this policy is to help the poor by making housing more affordable.1/ 2

To best understand these relationships one must explore what wage actually represents. Wage is equal to the value of marginal product of labor. Marginal product of labor refers to the productivity of the worker. (Alden 2014) The value of marginal product of labor refers to price times MPL. (Albany 2014) This relationship proves that if the price of a good or service increases then the Vmpl will increase. Since price and MPL are directly related, an increase in price of a product or service will ultimately increase the wage of the workers in the industry related to the product or service. (Albany 2014) Vice versa, if the price of a product/service decreases then the wages decrease. Lastly, if price is volatile then the wages in that industry will also be volatile. (Albany 2014) For

As shown in the graph, in a competitive labour market the supply of labour is perfectly elastic. Therefore, an increase in wage will cause the wage and supply of labour curve to shift from S1 to S2, and will cause the wage to increase from W1 to W2. An increase in the wage rate will cause the profit maximizing quantity of labour demanded to move from L1 to L2 as the equilibrium quantity demanded decreases due to the higher wage of

An increase in the minimum wage will have the effect of decreasing the quantity demanded of unskilled labor, while at the same time increasing the quantity supplied. The first involves an upward movement along the demand curve, while the second involves an upward movement along the supply curve.