David Brooks Minimum Wage Analysis

Rex Huppke, a writer for the Chicago tribune,writes about how raising the minimum wage may not be as positive to the society and economy as Americans are lead to believe. After interviewing many specialist and professors concerning this subject, he concludes that despite what other newspapers are saying raising the minimum wage could damage the economy. As an effect of what the media is saying this article was written to inform the public of the real cost of raising minimum wage.

The minimum wage debate has been a hot topic over the past year, especially with the Presidential Election. This is a divisive topic that people rarely agree upon. There are essentially two sides you can take when it comes to this argument. Either people are for minimum wage or are against raising, or even having, a minimum wage. Proponents of the minimum wage are typically politicians who are lobbying for the vote of the people who feel that a minimum wage is critical to their wellbeing, and those who sympathize with people who earn “minimum wage”. Minimum wage is destroying America’s free market economy and someone needs to take action and find a better solution to this problem. Without anyone acting on this problem now, it can potentially be worse in the long run. Raising the minimum wage in the United States will do more harm than good to society because of the long-term effects.

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.

The argument for minimum wage has remained remake consistent over the years. Some people are against minimum wage and the other think minimum wage can help you in a certain way. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Unites States federal government passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. The law has been amended almost every year to expand coverage of the wage floor and to increase the wage itself. Many of the fifty states have enacted their own minimum wage laws, some of them set even higher than the federal level. Minimum wage jobs don’t only help adults at hard times it help teenagers and college students. I learned that the proponents for minimum wage believe the raw value of one’s labor to a business

Minimum wage has always been a controversial issue. Many politicians use the argument of minimum wage for their own political propaganda. Some may argue minimum wage should be raised, while others believe it will have detrimental effects on our economy if it is raised. Surprising to most people, minimum wage earners make up only a small percent of American workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, minimum wage workers make up about 2.8% of all workers in America. “The majority of minimum wage workers are between the ages of 16 and 24. These are high school and college students” (Sherk 2). But high school and college students are not the entire percentage of minimum wage earners. When minimum

I decided to write about how I felt regarding the federal government's involvement in controlling the minimum wage and that I felt they are disconnected in their understanding of the impacts on communities when they raise the minimum wage. I work for a manufacturing company in the U.S. and I understand wholeheartedly what the impact of salary increases due to our bottom line. In very competitive markets the difference between success and failure can be separated by the difference of only a few dollars per part, and while in other countries, their manufacturing bottom line is subsidized by their governments we are forced to generate profits the old-fashioned way through supply and demand. This is why I decided to take a stance in my persuasive essay and challenge the status quo of the Department of Labor and Wages. No longer should the federal government dictate a national minimum wage but should allow each state to establish their own minimum wage based on the economic condition of their counties and their state, as a whole.

Although many Americans are aware that our country suffers severely in the category of poverty, minimum wage is not factor that many turn to think as a fault. They claim to know about minimum wage; however, it is merely a blank claim because they have neither experienced the hardship under a cap of expenses nor does the issue affect them. In fact, this issue is detrimental to our country as we are slowly falling into unemployment and homelessness. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, she states that minimum wage had fallen back comparing to the living cost in the 1900s; however, this statement is still true today. Enrenreich is a reliable reporter who travels to three different cities with contrasting backgrounds. She tried to experience the life of a minimum wage worker in order to accurately report the inside scoop of a life that most Americans do not know to exist. As a supporter of her claim after realizing the way our country has been living, I too believe that minimum wage does not fulfill its purpose and should be raised, as it does not serve enough to cover even the essential expenses.

When we think about minimum wage and what our belief on raising it is, most people think one of two things. People hold to the belief that a raise to the minimum wage good for the economy or it is bad for the economy. The authors of “the minimum wage debate” (Hassett & Strain, 2013) would attempt to have us look at the debate in another way. In their article they use a number of rhetorical techniques on us to try and have the reader examine why they are in favor of a raise in the minimum wage. Are we in favor of the minimum wage increase because we believe it will truly help the American people or do we believe in it because we are told to by the government?

Understanding the potential of an increase in today’s minimum wage is the key to understanding the above statement. As a financial mechanism in American society, the minimum wage has helped to sustain generations of workers. Yet, there are two sides to the debate over minimum wage increases. One side—the proponents—feel strongly that low-income workers need some incentive to earn a sufficient living. Conversely, opponents believe that changing the minimum wage does not always help workers and can

The United States government should not bring up minimum up to $15 per hour. For example, in the article “ A New Dawn For the Minimum Wage” Don Lee states “when Oaklands minimum wage jumped from $9 an hour to $12.25 in March, residents noticed many stores tacked on a dime or a quarter to an assortment of items.” This is explaining that prices have gone up ever since minimum wage went up. Therefore, if minimum wage was to up everything will be more expensive and everything would be difficult to buy.

In order to reduce income inequality, increase people's economic security, and help get people off food stamps, the government should increase the federal minimum wage. The average CEO makes 774 times the amount of a full-time minimum wage worker according to Cathrine Dill from forbes magazine. If minimum wage increased to $10.10, that number would decrease to 559. Although it’s not much, it still reduces the income inequality between the rich and poor people in America. Also, increasing the minimum wage will increase people's economic stability. Alternet.org states, “It is no longer the case that the people making the minimum wage are largely teenagers. In fact, now more than half of workers earning under $10.10 an hour are forced to support

The minimum wage must be raised because the cost of living has gone up considerably. Education is necessary if someone wants to work, and the cost of education has gone up dramatically in the last twenty years. Companies should be paying workers what they need, and that is considerably more than what the minimum wage is now. If the minimum wage were to increase, it would raise the wages of lot workers and increase benefits to workers with disadvantages.

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

By increasing the starting wage of employees, and the amount of money they receive from their employers, the low wage working class citizen should be able to better pay off their bills and live out of poverty. “Alan B. Krueger, the minimum-wage expert who formerly headed Mr. Obama 's Council of Economic Advisers, has written: "A minimum wage set as high as $12 an hour will do more good than harm for low-wage workers, but a $15-an-hour national minimum wage would put us in uncharted waters, and risk undesirable and unintended consequences”’ (“$15 Is the Wrong” A.14). This article shows us that increasing the starting pay does have its benefits, but also can have harmful effects on surrounding people. What are some of the problems that come with raising the pay of employees?

Quinn and Castle explains why the government should raise the minimum wage and why it’s just common sense. They emphasis that it’s time for Congress to move ahead with this issue, one broadly supported by Americans before the article begins. The authors even show how as of today, as many as three quarters of Americans support an increase in minimum wage, with data polls disclosing majorities of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans in favor of the much need increases in the minimum wage. The authors also explain that by raising the minimum wage how it would save taxpayers billions of