Minimum Wage Ethos Pathos Logos

Even though Huppke admits that both sides of the minimum wage debate “make valid arguments,” he takes a STANCE. What parts of his article suggest which side he favors?

Whether an opinion piece is effective depends on the expertise of rhetorical strategy of an author. This can either make a written piece convincing or unconvincing to the target audience. A clear example of how rhetorical strategies make a piece more convincing is the comparison of David Laska’s, “Minimum Need for a Minimum Wage Increase”, and Shamus Khan’s, “The Promise of More: Why We Should Raise the Minimum Wage”. By using rhetorical analysis on both opinion pieces Laska clearly makes a better argument. He makes use of logos by including statistics, an expert’s research in the field of minimum wage, and historical data to attack Obama’s decision to raising the minimum wage. He includes pathos to

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.

He points out, “classic economic theory teaches that as supply of a commodity - in this case, labor - increases, the price will fall” (AICF, 2016). The author was trying to solidify his point by appealing to the emotions of the reader. Clearly, workers in the United States would not want to see their hourly wage decrease due to an influx of migrant workers. Therefore, the writer was likely successful in expressing his viewpoint to the reader. The use of pathos in this paragraph also demonstrates that the author was passionate about his viewpoint. This rhetoric provides a strong and logical transition to the next premise of the argument.

One of the biggest arguments against raising the minimum wage is that it ends up raising employer costs (ex. having to pay more for employees) and leaves less and less opportunities for teenaged workers and disadvantaged workers to find jobs. However, David Card and Alan Krueger, both of whom are heads of the

Rex Huppke, a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, deftly discusses the pros and cons of raising the minimum wage in the last of a two-week series in “In the Minimum Wage Debate, Both Sides Make Valid Points”. Although I am for raising the minimum wage, Huppke’s presentation of the opposite argument does make one think beyond the gut reading that everyone deserves more money. Huppke’s argument that a large number of minimum wage earners are student of the elderly leads me to believe that a tier of wages would take care of the issue. For example, anyone working less than 35 hours a week would be paid at a certain rate; with full time getting an increase. I am not concerned by the argument that a higher minimum wage leads to lay-offs or price increases when most products sold in America are manufactured by cheap foreign labor. There is already a huge profit margin that could sustain such an increase. Rather than give discounts on goods and services, thus preventing employees from exercising the right to shop, stay or eat wherever the employee chooses, these employers trap workers into giving back the very money they have “slaved” for.

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.

The issue of raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour is a heavily debated topic. Both sources against or in favor of the minimum wage refer to a “growing gap” between low-income workers and high-income earners. Sources against the minimum wage believe raising it will increase this gap, whereas those in favor of the minimum wage believe it will decrease this gap. The arguments in favor of the minimum wage rely mostly on ethical beliefs, such as “pay should reflect hard work,” to advance the need for a higher minimum wage. Whereas, the arguments against the minimum wage use quantitative data like unemployment rates and economic analysis involving supply and demand to undermine the policy behind the minimum wage. Ultimately, the

In the article, “Minimum Wage Laws Are Immoral and Harmful,” the author is stating that their issue is: raising the minimum wage harmful? The author’s belief is minimum wage shouldn’t be raised, but also be abolished in the first place. The author’s reasons are the government tells the employers to raise the pay for their employees more than what their work is worth. This will lose the motivation from employees to earn higher wages as they continue to work. Also as the minimum wage rises the employers need to find some solution to be able to pay their employees, employers losing chances to find potential workers and to fire some employees, especially the new and inexperienced who will lose work experience they need. With the Author wishing to abolish the minimum wage, he believes that employers should pay however how much the wage can be on terms between the employer’s judgment and the employee. There shouldn’t be a national law of how much the minimum wage the employees should get.

One of the main arguments made by those in favor of raising the minimum wage is that there are studies showing little to no effect on the employment rate as a result of the increase. In the study “Why Does the Minimum Wage Have No Discernible Effect on Employment?”, author John Schmitt makes the statement “…Two recent meta-studies analyzing the research conducted since the early 1990s concludes that the minimum wage has little or no discernible effect on the employment prospects of low-wage workers” (John). Those in favor of the raise explain that although it may not decrease unemployment necessarily, it would improve the living conditions of those who are already employed and working for a wage that is too

Sklar provides numerous statistics in the article including that the wealthiest 1% of Americans hold 23.5% of the revenue in the United States (Sklar, 2009, p. 2). Moreover, “average wages are 7% lower today, adjusted for inflation, than they were in 1973” (Sklar, 2009, p. 2). Indeed, statistics are provided to support that unemployment rates do not rise when the minimum wage is raised. In fact, the Fiscal Policy Institute analyzed that “states that raised minimum wages above the federal level experienced better employment” (Sklar, 2009, p. 2). As people have more money, they spend that money on necessities. Hence, as the minimum wage rises, people will have more purchasing power causing an improved economy through spending. The article continues to provide statistics that demonstrate previous minimum wage increases have resulted in sizeable economic spending to boost the economy. These are persuasive statistics in favor of raising the minimum wage.

The author uses pathos, Logos, and diction/ word choice to reinforce his argument of the importance of reading. In the second paragraph the author uses the literary device , logos. Logos is a great way to make a strong argument because it's hard to refute facts. The author explains the data collected in the 2002 survey of public participation in the arts.

Intro: People of the middle class all know that the minimum wage of $7.25 is not sufficient to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. There is considerable evidence to show that the current generations comfortable lifestyles require a more luxurious price for standard living. The cost of living over the years has dramatically increased due to high consumer demands of products. As that being said, $7.25 is just not enough for a happy lifestyle, food, and the bills. There are many jobs that dislike or just can't afford paying high wages. Therefore, many employers hire less to save money. This causes a non-sufficient pay rate for comfortable living and high unemployment

Rex Huppke’s response to the minimum wage debate was somewhat personal. He incorporated his own experience and reaction to the increase as well as opinions, information, and statistics from other authors and economists. At first, Rex admits to believing that the minimum wage increase was the best thing that could happen for this country because overall, more money for a majority of Americans does seem like a compelling idea. As one further reads, Huppke now acknowledges that the argument is much more complex than what most people think.

In a paper titled “Four Reasons Not to Increase the Minimum Wage,” the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, offers four empirically backed consequences of increasing the minimum wage; these consequences include: the loss of jobs, low skilled workers being disproportionally affected and priced out of the job market, a minimal effect on reducing poverty, and higher prices for goods. The paper compiles a number of studies to support these