New York City is considering a 15 dollar minimum wage. - Polidicks

The increased minimum wage sounds like a good idea on the surface but wouldn't it just cause a big inflation jump in the cost of pretty much everything to compensate? Like the first year or two would be fantastic, but businesses, banks and realtors would catch up eventually.

I don't see how anyone could survive in NYC on less than $15 an hour.

[QUOTE=Qwerty Bastard;45558458]The increased minimum wage sounds like a good idea on the surface but wouldn't it just cause a big inflation jump in the cost of pretty much everything to compensate? Like the first year or two would be fantastic, but businesses, banks and realtors would catch up eventually.[/QUOTE]That's why I agree that it's probably a bad idea. Not exactly what we need.

[QUOTE=Duck M.;45557530]I'm not sure if I understand. They wouldnt be raising the minimum wage on smaller businesses, only chains and larger conglomerates? Wouldn't that make workers stray from working at smaller businesses?[/QUOTE] Probably not, as I predict the companies required to increase their pay will respond by laying off workers.

[QUOTE=Zero-Point;45559337]Probably not, as I predict the companies required to increase their pay will respond by laying off workers.[/QUOTE] This argument is bullshit. If the workers weren't needed, if they could be laid off, they wouldn't be employed even if the minimum wage remained constant. People are still needed to operate the machines, to clean the toilets, to pack the shelves, to serve the customers etc. A business that lays off its workers when labour is already as efficient as it can be (which all businesses naturally strive for at all times) will only harm their profits. [editline]1st August 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Qwerty Bastard;45558458]The increased minimum wage sounds like a good idea on the surface but wouldn't it just cause a big inflation jump in the cost of pretty much everything to compensate? Like the first year or two would be fantastic, but businesses, banks and realtors would catch up eventually.[/QUOTE] Minimum wage is supposed to be indexed to inflation. Costs will increase to compensate wage increases, wages will increase to compensate cost increases. Never ending cycle. But the US is an interesting case because the federal minimum wage isn't indexed to inflation, and after many years of wage increases lagging behind inflation (as wage increases are not the sole cause of inflation), the real value of minimum wages are less than many decades ago and the problem is now structural. But what's the alternative to not increasing the minimum wage now? Keep wages constant in nominal terms? That will only make the problem worse in years to come. Then only when businesses realise that their consumers do not have enough money to consume, it will be beyond the point of return.

and then they probably suddenly won't consider a 15$ minimum wage for some reason after a few rich guys speak up

Scrap the minimum wage and let the market decide the wage, then institute a universal basic income.

[QUOTE=CubeManv2;45558012]The 15$ would just balance it all out and not even. One bedrooms can go for over 1k.[/QUOTE] Hahaha shoot higher than that AFAIK NYC is more expensive than boston and the entire greater boston area you are lucky to get a 1 bedroom close to $1k/mo unless its super run down. Downtown a studio costs close to $3K, even more if you actually want a bedroom.

[QUOTE=Garry #2;45557840]why are people rating this winner? a [B]15[/B] dollar minimum wage cannot be good in the long run[/QUOTE] The GDP of NYC can support a $25 minimum wage on all 8million inhabitants. I don't see how you think this can't be done.

All this really says is that the minimum wage would be increased to a higher point to allow for higher cost of living and they're considering enforcing companies that can afford to spend more to pay that higher wage. It makes sense to be honest.

that's like an 8 dollar wage anywhere else because everything is so expensive

[QUOTE=yodaman888;45556251]increasing the minimum wage sounds good on paper but all the prices in NY would go up to match the increase they would get anyway.[/QUOTE] it's more complex than Econ 101 would make it seem. Edit: It's not a direct relationship. Edit2: Companies hire to get more work done to raise profits. Increasing minimum wage, and having people laid off due to hire wages, would mean they'd have less people to do the work and thus productivity and profits could drop from there.

as an NYC-er i really hope this happens

[QUOTE=Antdawg;45559385]This argument is bullshit. If the workers weren't needed, if they could be laid off, they wouldn't be employed even if the minimum wage remained constant. People are still needed to operate the machines, to clean the toilets, to pack the shelves, to serve the customers etc. A business that lays off its workers when labour is already as efficient as it can be (which all businesses naturally strive for at all times) will only harm their profits.[/QUOTE] Yes, but why have 3 people do those things when you can get rid of one and force the other two to find time to do what the third person did?

If the minimum wage was $15/hr then people would be more inclined to spend more since they have some excess cash to spend and not have to live paycheck to paycheck. So more money would be going back into the economy. So it would all kind of even out. I doubt most people would just hoard that money. So it's pretty much people get more money and companies get more money because people are buying more.