EE PatronApr 13th 2014, 4:45:11
Wow, that ended up being quite an essay. For those with an aversion to reading something totally opposite their views for half an hour, here is what I think is the key paragraph:
So this was a business making $80k in profits with 42 man hours needed a day. Going to $15/hr, would have been an average of a $5/hr wage increase. The store was closed Thanksgiving and Christmas, so that's 363 days a year. Rounding down, this would mean a $76k/year increase on a business that only was making a profit of $80k a year! You will say he should raise his prices, but this would be just as likely to just scare off customers to the bigger businesses which could absorb at least part of the losses. In fact, he played with the prices at one point and that is exactly what happened. He ended up making less money.
The fact is that raising the minimum wage would lead to many businesses cutting their employees hours, and others that would be forced to close their doors entirely. We're talking about a trade-off which would lead to some employees gaining a 'living wage,' and others losing a significant portion of their wage, possibly in its' entirety.
So this was a business making $80k in profits with 42 man hours needed a day. Going to $15/hr, would have been an average of a $5/hr wage increase. The store was closed Thanksgiving and Christmas, so that's 363 days a year. Rounding down, this would mean a $76k/year increase on a business that only was making a profit of $80k a year! You will say he should raise his prices, but this would be just as likely to just scare off customers to the bigger businesses which could absorb at least part of the losses. In fact, he played with the prices at one point and that is exactly what happened. He ended up making less money.
The fact is that raising the minimum wage would lead to many businesses cutting their employees hours, and others that would be forced to close their doors entirely. We're talking about a trade-off which would lead to some employees gaining a 'living wage,' and others losing a significant portion of their wage, possibly in its' entirety.