Myths/raising the minimum wage would raise prices - Revision history

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Woozle: Created page with "category:minimum wage category:inflation {{hdr/myth|Raising the minimum wage will result in higher prices.}} ==Myth== There is a widespread belief that raising the {{l..."

2015-07-24T18:09:18Z

Created page with "category:minimum wage category:inflation {{hdr/myth|Raising the minimum wage will result in higher prices.}} ==Myth== There is a widespread belief that raising the {{l..."

New page

[[category:minimum wage]]
[[category:inflation]]
{{hdr/myth|Raising the minimum wage will result in higher prices.}}
==Myth==
There is a widespread belief that raising the {{l/ip|minimum wage}} will just raise prices. It's not clear whether the unspoken assumption is that the prices would go up enough to negate any wage-gains, but we'll examine that implicit claim too.
==Reality==
* An examination of fast-food prices in other countries, where the minimum wage is often much higher than in the US, shows this to be a bogus claim: "A big mac in Denmark, where McDonald's employees earn $21.00/hr cost $5.08. Here in the US, where they earn less than $8 an hour, a big mac costs $4.79. In Australia, where the minimum wage is over $15/hr, a big mac costs $3.92."<ref name=bpundit />
* The amount by which prices would go up cannot be anywhere near the wage increase, since wages are only a slice of the final retail cost.
* To the extent that prices are determined by supply and demand:
** the prices would not go up if demand did not increase.
** if the price goes up, this indicates an increased demand, which implies greater buying power – a desired goal.
* And finally, who cares if prices go up a little if this means that more people can make a decent living? If you're getting something at a low price only because someone else has to suffer, then you're essentially stealing their work to save money.
==Related==
See also [[/weak counters]] for an argument that makes sense on the surface but doesn't pan out when the numbers are checked.
==Footnotes==
<references>
<ref name=bpundit>'''2015-07-24''' The Bitchy Pundit, comment on [https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Bitchypundit/posts/1hfBE8F4vKH this post], citing [http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index The Economist] for prices</ref>
</references>

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 * And finally, who cares if prices go up a little if this means that more people can make a decent living? If you're getting something at a low price only because someone else has to suffer, then you're essentially stealing their work to save money.
 ==Related==
-See also [[/rejected]] for an argument that makes sense on the surface but doesn't pan out when the numbers are checked.
+* See also [[/rejected]] for an argument that makes sense on the surface but doesn't pan out when the numbers are checked.
 ==Footnotes==
 <references>
 <ref name=bpundit>'''2015-07-24''' The Bitchy Pundit, comment on <s>[https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Bitchypundit/posts/1hfBE8F4vKH this post]</s>, citing [http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index The Economist] for prices</ref>
 </references>