Why not both? Maybe in the not-so-distant future we'll have a $15 minimum wage and a healthy mainstream adoption of bitcoin.
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Why not both? Maybe in the not-so-distant future we'll have a $15 minimum wage and a healthy mainstream adoption of bitcoin.
I think the minimum wage should be zero. What a minimum wage does is makes it illegal for people to have a job if they can't provide an employer more value than the minimum wage. It's these people with no skills who need a job the most. That first job is a stepping stone to their next and better job.
We grow up in school being taught to think that if the government wasn't setting a minimum wage, we'd be earning 5 cents/hr crawling around in the dirt searching for sustenance. However, it's capital investment and competition between employers that drives up wages, not the government.
If we could legislate prosperity into existence, all we'd have to do is put into place a high minimum wage in the poorest countries in the world. But, it doesn't work like that. The people in Bangladesh are poor because they're inefficient at producing stuff. Their inefficiency doesn't stem from them being lazy or bad workers; it's because of the lack of capital investment. When you invest in machines, you become more productive, goods become more abundant, and prices fall.
Switzerland doesn't have a minimum wage, yet are amongst the highest paid people in the world.
Singapore doesn't have a minimum wage, although they did enact a wage law around 2010, it's not technically a minimum wage. But all the following were true before that law existed. They have some of the highest wages in the world, virtually no poverty, and the highest concentration of millionaires in the world. I'd argue that their success comes from being one of the most economically free countries in the world, meaning they have low taxes, low government spending, and high levels of freedom when it comes to trade, finances, and labor.
The current minimum wage doesn't hurt the economy a lot because only 1-3% of population work for the minimum wage, depending on how it's measured. For example, if you count the waiters and waitresses who make tips, it's closer to 3%. But, in reality, most of those people making tips earn significantly more the minimum wage. With that said, if the minimum wage were doubled, I have no doubt that it would be disastrous for the economy.
Oof man, we're going to have to strongly disagree here.
edit: I respect your opinion though - not trying to start a debate
Fair enough, no debate starting.