When I see my friends
on Facebook celebrating the rise of the minimum wage in Seattle, I have to
cover my eyes and sigh to myself. I love
my friends, but I wish they realized that this isn’t really something to
celebrate. The rise in minimum wage can
lead to more harm than good. Reports
from Fox News already shows that there are many business that recognize the
danger. This is a good sign, as it shows
that many business owners may already have comprehended the meaning of the one
lesson of economics.
The City Council of Seattle only see that if the minimum
wage is increased, then workers will make and receive more money. While they may be receiving an actual higher
amount of money, the value of that money will not increase, because the cost of
living in Seattle will increase. Remember
that pizza you ordered from Pizza Hut last week? Instead of paying $16, it now costs you $40,
for that same one pizza. The article
posted by Fox News even goes on to say that “customers will be able to easily
go outside the city for better pricing”.
What the City Council also doesn’t consider is that the
increase of minimum wage will actually decrease the level of employment, as
businesses will no longer be able to afford to pay their workers. Fox News quoted David Goldstein, who runs his
own blog, saying, “If some jobs are lost, but
we lift tens of thousands of low-wage workers out of poverty, that’s a net plus
in the long run.” Sorry to say,
David, but there will actually be more people in poverty due to the minimum
wage increase because, as stated before, the cost of living will increase, and
more people will lose their jobs, with most of them being unable to find a new
job as employers do not want to pay a $15 minimum wage.
It’s very obvious that there are
many people out in the world who do not understand the one lesson of
economics. What’s more depressing is
that these people are running our cities our country. Why are these people making decisions that we
obviously know are wrong on every level?
The City Council wishes to help the people of Seattle, but are doing it
in the worst way possible, as those people will just be hurt more. More cities will vote for a minimum wage
increase, such as San Francisco in November.
Hopefully the people there will be able to recognize the horrible
consequences in Seattle and use that to influence their vote.
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