Last month I posted about the minimum wage and it’s impact on teens. Back then, I commented on how a post by Mark Perry over at Carpe Diem pushed me to finish my data analysis.
The results were drastic. And now, I wanna show the same analysis but for black teens in America.
Posted in Economics, Economy, Politics: National
Tagged Employment, Minimum Wage, Unemployment
For years I’ve argued that the minimum wage was a wrong minded philosophy. 
This has gone back for at least 14-20 years. For much of that time, my arguments were more along the line of “There are many people in this world how aren’t WORTH the minimum wage.” Parallel to that argument, I would challenge people I knew who supported the idea with finding 10 jobs [I lived in Seattle at the time] that actually DIDN’T pay the minimum wage.
The point is; I’ve long opposed the idea that businesses should have t pay people more than they’re worth.
Posted in Economics, Economy, Politics: National
Tagged Employment, Minimum Wage, Unemployment
It’s a pretty familiar refrain “Everything is made in China, that’s why it’s so cheap!”
This is usually followed up with the typical “slave labor” and “sweat shop” and other oft trotted out horror stories.
Posted in Economics, Economy, Liberty, Politics: International, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Abuse of Power, China, Conservative, Employment, Left, Leftist, Liberal, Minimum Wage, Politics, Unemployment, Unions
As always, I have Brad and Britt on the radio for the morning commute. I listen because they are local and because I need to convince myself that I listen to both sides. As such, I normally am shaking my head at the discussion and the mind-set I get from Greensboro.
This morning was different. The subject was France and whether or not it’s better to live in France or the USA. Normally, the left says that the French model is better but given the choice, they don’t wanna live there. As if they subconsciously understand that you don’t get both the “good life” France offers and the freedom and benefits of such that America offers.
Brad and Britt both agreed that it is much MUCH better to live in America than France. Again, this isn’t surprising, this follows the leftist road map. But as the conversation continued, I was pleasantly surprised at WHY they would not like to live in France. For example, they idea of “strikes and riots when the price of milk goes up a by a nickel” was pure genius in its simplicity in capturing the French culture. But it got even better. When describing the summer break, Britt correctly wondered “who is gonna do the work?”. And not to leave Brad out, he weighed in with this “given the chance to make a life in America vs being taken care of but tracked, I would take America ANYDAY!”
This was just a wonderful way to start the morning. It gave me hope that we ARE a center-right nation. That we know the chance, the opportunity, to strike out and make our way is a fundamental and uniquely American principle. That we get freedom. That being provided for has its price.
Yet it’s this wonderful news that frustrates me from the marketing side of me. I am convinced that a conservative approach to finance and economics is the way to prosperity and advancement. But the right is SO poor at spreading the message that we get painted as greedy industrialists. And we never EVER learn from that. No one wants to hear that minimum wage laws should be abolished. “How greedy can you get? Slave wages for the poor!” It resonates. It sticks. Never mind that unemployment goes up, cost of goods go up and innovation and choice are restricted.
And who doesn’t wanna provide less expensive yet better medical care to everyone? We ALL do. The problem is, there is a wrong way and a right way. Restricting that market is the wrong way. Opening it up is the right way.
But we never get the message out. We just sit back and “can’t be bothered by that”. It’s the same reason you never see serious economists enter into debate about the most commonly accepted financial principles; because it is so basic and understood, that to debate it is beneath all serious members. It would be akin to debating that 2 is greater than 1.
Anyway, Brad, Britt….well said. And welcome to the center-right society!
Posted in Economy, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Brad and Britt, Conservative, Health Care, Left, Liberal, Minimum Wage, Politics, Right, Socialism, zNorth Carolina
So, in my last post I spoke some about the minimum wage and the buying power associated with it. I used a concept shown to my by Mark Perry. That is, comparing the cost of goods from 50 years ago to that price today. I added a little twist and included the price of that good had it too kept up with inflation.
I thought it would be interesting to do the same thing with the cost of government controlled goods. Like a postage stamp.
Here goes.
Cost of a stamp in 1958: $0.04
Inflation Price: $0.30
Real Price Today: $0.44
So, while the price of products today is going down relative to it’s 1958 inflation price, the cost of postage is going up. By almost 50%.
Tagged 1, Minimum Wage, North Carolina, North Carolina Politics, Politics
The argument for the minimum wage is that, without it, people will be unable to keep up with the essentials of life. Let’s check that out.
In 1956 the minimum wage was $1.00 American. One WHOLE dollar. However, that translates into a whopping $7.93 today. Which, by the way, is more than than current minimum wage set forth by the Federal Government; $7.25.
Let’s see how we compare:
| Comparison of Prices: 1958 and 2008 | |||
| Product | Price in 1958 | Inflation Price | Real Price Today |
| Automatic Toaster | $12.95 | $95.39 | $15.88 |
| 8 Cup Coffee Maker | $15.50 | $114.17 | $19.99 |
| AM Table Radio | $13.95 | $102.75 | $29.00 |
| Starter Guitar | $17.95 with case | $132.22 | $99.99 |
| Globe of the World | $12.95 | $95.39 | $39.97 |
| Flash Camera | $5.90 | $43.46 | $45.88 |
| Child’s Bicycle | $18.45 | $135.90 | $59.00 |
| Pup Tent | $13.92 | $102.53 | $38.88 |
So, what does this tell us? It tells us, that while wages have not kept pace with inflation, the cost of goods has also not kept pace with inflation. In fact, the real price of goods has actually become cheaper, much cheaper, in terms of today’s dollars.
An interesting experiment conducted by Mark Perry in a post found here shows how many hours a worker would have to work to afford a defined set of products.
Again,we can do the same:
| Comparison of Hours Worked: 1958 and 2008 | ||
| Product | Hours Worked in 1958 | Hours Worked in 2008 |
| Automatic Toaster | 32.375 | 2.19 |
| 8 Cup Automatic Coffee Maker | 38.75 | 2.75 |
| AM Table Radio | 34.87 | 4 |
| Starter Guitar | 44.87 | 13.8 |
| Globe of the World | 32.4 | 5.5 |
| Flash Camera | 14.75 | 6.3 |
| Child’s Bicycle | 46.1 | 8.1 |
| Pup Tent | 34.8 | 5.4 |
And again, we see that it’s not even close. Not only have the products that we have to choose from expanded, but the cost of those products, in terms of real dollars AND hours worked have plummeted.