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CBO Says Minimum-Wage Rise May Ease Poverty, Cost Jobs

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CBO Says Minimum-Wage Rise May Ease Poverty, Cost Jobs

'Increasing the U.S. minimum wage may lift some workers out of poverty while leading to as many as 1 million job losses, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office.

The report was seized on by House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican who opposes President Barack Obama’s call to increase the minimum wage to $10.10. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour.

...A change in employment probably would range from a “very slight reduction” to a decrease of 1 million jobs, CBO said. Some workers would lose their jobs as companies look to offset the change by reducing payrolls, according to the report.'



CBO Says Minimum-Wage Rise May Ease Poverty, Cost Jobs - Bloomberg
 
I swear, these Democrats have a third-grade understanding of economics.

Fewer workers will be asked to do more work. Companies budget for employee overhead, and profit margins are set according to risk. Those numbers will not change.

The only result of this will be higher unemployment. Way to go, nimrods.
 
I swear, these Democrats have a third-grade understanding of economics.

Fewer workers will be asked to do more work. Companies budget for employee overhead, and profit margins are set according to risk. Those numbers will not change.

The only result of this will be higher unemployment. Way to go, nimrods.
More money in the working man's pocket means he'll spend more at Wal-Mart. More money going back into the economy means happier businesses.
 
More money in the working man's pocket means he'll spend more at Wal-Mart. More money going back into the economy means happier businesses.

It's about percentages though. If the price level (i.e. the Consumer Price Index) increases by a factor similar to what minimum wage goes up, then there is no net benefit.
 
This argument has been going on for decades. If the right had their way most would be making a dollar a day. Henry Ford was right on the money.
 
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I swear, these Democrats have a third-grade understanding of economics.

Fewer workers will be asked to do more work. Companies budget for employee overhead, and profit margins are set according to risk. Those numbers will not change.

The only result of this will be higher unemployment. Way to go, nimrods.

More money in the working man's pocket means he'll spend more at Wal-Mart. More money going back into the economy means happier businesses.

It's about percentages though. If the price level (i.e. the Consumer Price Index) increases by a factor similar to what minimum wage goes up, then there is no net benefit.

Everybody is right.

Workers who earn more spend more, and spending more drives demand which drives companies to hire more to produce more goods. And its also equally true that when the cost of labor increases that companies seek to hire less individuals to reduce costs, which can lead to unemployment. There's a happy medium in between where you maximize employment, assuming that is your goal since max employment may not mean the same as max production or max profit.

Then you consider that some companies that hire lots of minimum wage workers may not be the kind of companies where minimum wage earners frequency spend their earning, these companies will always be hurt by increases in minimum wages. This includes a lot of high end retail which may sell expensive furniture or clothing but rely on minimum wage or low wage workers to do the warehousing, floor management, check-out, etc in the retail space itself. Then you have other companies like Wal-Mart and fast food which has a massive amount of minimum wage labor AND are places where minimum wage workers frequently spend money but still may not benefit from a minimum wage increase depending on whether economists think those folks will spend those extra dollars in their stores in addition to people they do not employ also spending their earnings at their store. Its not enough for your employee to buy your product, you've also got to get other folks who you don't employ to purchase your goods as well if you want to turn a profit.

So there's no happy medium whatsoever, different wage levels benefit different people and different companies differently.
 
More money in the working man's pocket means he'll spend more at Wal-Mart. More money going back into the economy means happier businesses.

No, actually it means more money in Wal-Mart and their off-shore suppliers pockets.
 
This argument has been going on for decades. If the right had their way most would be making a dollar a day. Henry Ford was right on the money.

And if he left had their way, no one would be rich, and the government would control everything.
 
More money in the working man's pocket means he'll spend more at Wal-Mart. More money going back into the economy means happier businesses.

He'll spend more at Wal-mart, but take home the same merchandise. Cost goes up, prices go up, too. It's already happening as grocery prices are taking off.
 
This argument has been going on for decades. If the right had their way most would be making a dollar a day. Henry Ford was right on the money.

No, it is a question of supply and demand. Currently supply is higher than demand so wages are low. When the reverse is true wages increase. It has nothing at all to do with politics.
 
This argument has been going on for decades. If the right had their way most would be making a dollar a day. Henry Ford was right on the money.

Tell me - how long will someone be able to stay alive while working for a dollar a day? How long will they work that job for a dollar a day?

These are probably the two nicest questions I can ask you. The rest involve your mental acuity and your propensity for mind-altering substances.
 
He'll spend more at Wal-mart, but take home the same merchandise. Cost goes up, prices go up, too. It's already happening as grocery prices are taking off.

That is how inflation chases its tail.
 
No, actually it means more money in Wal-Mart and their off-shore suppliers pockets.


Seems Pelosi think this was the Case GG.....and then that if they went with what Obama tried last time. That it would be less hurtful.....huh? :lol:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that “no matter how the critics spin this report, the CBO made it absolutely clear: raising the minimum wage would lift almost one million Americans out of poverty.”

A smaller minimum wage hike to $9 per hour—the plan Obama floated last year—would have a less dramatic effect on the economy, CBO projected, with 7.6 million Americans seeing a rise in wages and overall employment declining by 100,000 workers.

Read more: Minimum Wage: Congress Office Says Hike Would Lift Earnings, Cost Jobs | TIME.com Minimum Wage: Congress Office Says Hike Would Lift Earnings, Cost Jobs | TIME.com
 
This argument has been going on for decades. If the right had their way most would be making a dollar a day. Henry Ford was right on the money.

Nope, you are wrong.

If the right had their way, most would be making whatever they can sell their talents and ability for on the open market.
 
That is how inflation chases its tail.

Yep, and until more people understand that there is no inherent value in a piece of paper that says $1 on it, we'll never get anywhere.

Such a basic lack of understanding of math/economics is almost criminal. They didn't dig "Benjamins" out of a mine in the Ukraine. It is simply a piece of paper that represents a value unit of economy. Just giving people more of it for no reason doesn't make them more valuable. It just means they have more paper to keep up with.

Politics drive inflation. A dollar shouldn't be worth more than it was 30 years ago, but it does because people do mindless and meaningless things like raise the minimum wage.
 
Seems Pelosi think this was the Case GG.....and then that if they went with what Obama tried last time. That it would be less hurtful.....huh? :lol:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that “no matter how the critics spin this report, the CBO made it absolutely clear: raising the minimum wage would lift almost one million Americans out of poverty.”

A smaller minimum wage hike to $9 per hour—the plan Obama floated last year—would have a less dramatic effect on the economy, CBO projected, with 7.6 million Americans seeing a rise in wages and overall employment declining by 100,000 workers.

Read more: Minimum Wage: Congress Office Says Hike Would Lift Earnings, Cost Jobs | TIME.com Minimum Wage: Congress Office Says Hike Would Lift Earnings, Cost Jobs | TIME.com

With all due respect, MMC, I don't give a flaming *whatever* Pelosi thinks. Because Pelosi doesn't think before she opens her yap.
 
Nope, you are wrong.

If the right had their way, most would be making whatever they can sell their talents and ability for on the open market.
Of course, the right wing "free market" mantra. Abolish minimum wage, let the market take over and people will earn what they're worth! That's just a smokescreen for paying people a dollar a day.
 
With all due respect, MMC, I don't give a flaming *whatever* Pelosi thinks. Because Pelosi doesn't think before she opens her yap.

Yeah well, she isn't the one trying to fall back to Obama's Old default with the minimum wage either......moreover we know that the Democratic States and even Cities, will raise theirs. Regardless what takes place with Obama. This is all about the Demos strategy for running into the election. Even though this article only mentions it briefly.


Obama and congressional Democrats have been trying to make the minimum wage a key issue ahead of the 2014 midterm elections, arguing that the federal government should do more to combat income inequality. Obama said during his State of the Union address last month that he would issue an executive order raising the minimum wage for a limited number of federal contractors, but an increase in the minimum wage for all workers requires congressional action.....snip~

Read more: Minimum Wage: Congress Office Says Hike Would Lift Earnings, Cost Jobs | TIME.com Minimum Wage: Congress Office Says Hike Would Lift Earnings, Cost Jobs | TIME.com
 
Of course, the right wing "free market" mantra. Abolish minimum wage, let the market take over and people will earn what they're worth! That's just a smokescreen for paying people a dollar a day.

Are you a proponent of government price fixing?

If so, are you aware of the consequences when the government does that sort of thing?
 
Are you a proponent of government price fixing?

If so, are you aware of the consequences when the government does that sort of thing?
If there isn't a minimum pay then employers will seek labor for as little as they can get it.
 
So I'm going to take a gamble here and just be up front about my lack of understanding when it comes to economics and run this by you all:

It seems to me that the questions around wage comes down to the ethics of the company making the decision (at least for larger employers) Meaning it does not seem to be a question of whether or not they can stay in business if they pay their employees more or even how that choice will impact the cost of their product(s) it seems to be a question of whether or not they respect their workers enough to compromise on their profits a little in order to provide a living wage to them. It is possible for WalMart to pay their employees more and not pass that cost on to consumers, they would stay in business and the cost of their goods would not be affected if they made the choice to do it because it was the "right" thing to do. We all know that they will not make that choice. Not in a capitalist system that is driven solely by the largest possible profit for the business owner. Point being I guess, it seems to boil down to maximizing personal profit and prioritizing it over serving the larger good or community with just a little compromise on that profit.
 
Of course, the right wing "free market" mantra. Abolish minimum wage, let the market take over and people will earn what they're worth! That's just a smokescreen for paying people a dollar a day.

Seeing how no one would work for a dollar a day companies would find a hard time putting people into jobs. no one would work for a dollar a day.
so to say that paying people a dollar a day is just hyperbole at best and dishonest at the other end.

raising base wages means that you need more qualifications to get that job. which means new people entering the job market and or low skilled people get left out in the cold.

also you have people like me that say my skills take a great more effort and my job is much more demanding i want the same increase in pay. ol yea not going to happen.
i will be lucky to get a fraction of that increase. yet i still have to deal with the increase in prices.

way to stick it to the working guy thanks.
 
Of course, the right wing "free market" mantra. Abolish minimum wage, let the market take over and people will earn what they're worth! That's just a smokescreen for paying people a dollar a day.

Such nonsense. If a person would work for a dollar a day, sure. If a person could pay their bills and eat on a dollar a day, okay. A dollar is a completely relative unit of measurement.

That's simply not how it works. A business wants to be successful, and to do so, it needs talent, and it needs people that will work hard in a variety of roles. You can't get and keep good people unless you pay them. Competition will take your people from you if you don't. It happens all day, every day.

Your abilities establish what you're worth. The demand for you tells you what to ask for.

All raising the minimum wage will do is get the less productive, less talented people fired. That, and prices will go up to compensate for the additional cost of business.

So anyone with a decent job just got a decrease in pay, and will spend less now. So the economy gets smashed in the face again. Way to go.
 
So I'm going to take a gamble here and just be up front about my lack of understanding when it comes to economics and run this by you all:

It seems to me that the questions around wage comes down to the ethics of the company making the decision (at least for larger employers) Meaning it does not seem to be a question of whether or not they can stay in business if they pay their employees more or even how that choice will impact the cost of their product(s) it seems to be a question of whether or not they respect their workers enough to compromise on their profits a little in order to provide a living wage to them. It is possible for WalMart to pay their employees more and not pass that cost on to consumers, they would stay in business and the cost of their goods would not be affected if they made the choice to do it because it was the "right" thing to do. We all know that they will not make that choice. Not in a capitalist system that is driven solely by the largest possible profit for the business owner and no laws directly them to make different choices. Point being I guess, it seems to boil down to maximizing personal profit and prioritizing it over serving the larger good or community with just a little compromise on that profit.

LOL i love it when liberals break out these types of comments.

The average wage at walmart is already 9-12 bucks an hour depending on position.

companies pay according to market analysis of what the position around the country pays. pay scales have become pretty much standardized at this point.

Companies at walmart also target certain markets. They know the price of what people will pay and not pay in those markets. places like walmart have very low margins, and even more loss when it comes to theft.

companies have a set profit margin that they must make in order to maintain company function. so you are right they are not going to compromise on that, nor should they.

raises and increases come when they exceed those projections.

by all means please start a business overpaying your employee's while having to maintain a certain price point that people will actually pay and see how long you stay in business.
 
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