Rep. Byrne Discusses Minimum Wage and Inflation

[sdkee]

Raise the minimum wage to 1000,0000,000$/hr. Everyone will be rich!!!

Lol!

[rumco]

Jan is incorrect because he's looking only at one side of the problem - money supply, while ignoring the effect of a min. wage policy.

If one pushes the minimum wage very high, less economic activity will ensue due to low productivity jobs being outlawed, illegal work being prosecuted etc. and a the result will be a drop in the number of goods and services produced. If the money supply remains the same, the same amount of money "chasing" less products and services means higher price level.

[egervari]

Hahaha. This congresswoman is so stupid. How does she not understand Jan's last argument that if there is a finite money supply, if you raise prices in some areas, that some other areas will have to decrease?

And does she really think raising the minimum wage law, by itself, would cause inflation? I'm sorry, we inflation because the fed increases the money supply, which is distinctly different from minimum wage laws.

[qtutoringhelps]

She doesn't get your "if the government doesn't print more money" bit. If there are X number of dollars in circulation, a rise in the price of a widget by $1... Man, oh man, this lady is slow.

[SamuelMoralesJr]

I am sorry, but this one made me laugh. It will not increase unemployment, but will increase inflation, even with the same money supply. Wow, I didn't think such a person of leadership would lack common sense.

[HaveAGingerAle]

- "Thats what the statistics show for 60 years."

- "Because I think that, uh obviously a sharp spike would have an, eh, effect on prices."

- "Who doesn't have minimum wage jobs?"

- "But that's the floor"

- "That's what causes inflation. Dollars chasing dollars."

- "I'd like to see the school of economics you graduated from" (followed by insane inappropriate laughter) - Well Spoken, clever rebuttals, makes perfect sense. I'm sold. She's a mental giant.

[HaveAGingerAle]

She is so angry because she has no intelligent response to his questions. She is a fool, a puppet, and a parrot all rolled into one big laughing idiot - also her laughing sounds really creepy, as if revealing her mental instability and insecurity. I'm sure she has made Virginia proud to know she "represents" them.

[dchamberss]

GOD! She is SO STUPID. READ ADAM SMITH, CAN"T GET OVER HOW STUPID SHE IT.

[xerakis]

this womean is an absolute economic illiterate, these libs are brainwashed, are you kidding me!!!! she's a US congressman and she has NO clue about economics. She's too much of a moron to see that she's a socialist, what a piece of idiotic garbage!! It would be amusing if it wasn't so Pathetic!!!

[ronald0s]

because the purpose of studying economy IS not to get deceived by economists!

[taradfong]

Backpedal, backpedal, backpedal.

[MoonMankkkkkk]

Mr. Keynes, you are well-esteemed in Wasington!

[Harlingtonjnr3]

OMG I would love to be interviewed by Jan. I would work hard to appear stupider than normal.

[danoftherepublic]

Wow. im not even mad at her. im embarassed for her, she looks like she has no idea what he is talking about and then she just spits out "dollars chasing dollars". It's sad

[amagilly]

that woman is a fallacy generating machine

[d0861]

Is this idiot still in congress?

[RileyE104]

@d0861 I hope not.. She's an idiot.

[matchbox555]

jan needs to look up the word "optimum"

there is an optimum level that you can set the wage at.. and that level is NOT set by the market, because humans have biological needs that cannot be negotiated

in short.. jan is a retard

[soundmoneyfan]

you are wrong wrong wrong my friend, if you want me explain why, let me know. if you prefer not understanding it, please enjoy your ignorance, but don't call people names when you really have NO idea what you are talking about.

[pperezklein]

Wow! jan is a retard? really? to me, he would kick your ass in an interview. Of course the level set by the market is optimum because if you set a minimum wage, that means that employers cannot hire people for the amount they would like to (restriction of liberty) and as a result, the poorest people in society cannot get a job, thus worsening their situation.

[stecksalathe]

@matchbox555

what are you even saying man?

This lady is an idiot

[deadman12078]

LOL People voted for her.

[davidb72]

You should have handed her a copy of "Economics in one lesson" at the end of the interview.

[davidb72]

I don't think she's read "Economics in one lesson" by Henry Hazlitt !!

[SanguiniusX]

So there would be both higher unemployment/less employment AND higher general prices, if the min. wage is increased or if a min. wage is imposed and has an affect on the economy that previously did not have a min. wage.

[SanguiniusX]

Jan, your argument is slightly mistaken. An increase in the min. wage would as you say cause an increase in unemployment relative to the level it would've been if there had been no min. wage. However, an increase in the min. wage would also cause a general rise in prices relative the level the prices would've been without the min. wage increase. Another way of saying an increase in unemployment is to say a decrease in employment. If therere fewer people employed there will be less output.

[SanguiniusX]

Less output and a fixed money stock means that goods and services are relatively more scarce than they wouldve been had there been no increase in the min. wage. An increase in scarcity of goods in services leads to higher prices than wouldve been the case had there been no increase in the min. wage.

[SamuelMoralesJr]

@SanguiniusX not really, less people would be employed, taken over by machinery that would do the job just as effectively, if not better. Minimum wage increase can not increase inflation without actual money supply. That's just common sense. In the 1960's, and 70's, you had a large minimum wage increase because of money printing. If minimum wage is only inflationary when there is money printing, minimum wage by itself creates no choice by to have fewer workers, increase efficiency per cost.

[SamuelMoralesJr]

@SanguiniusX that's assuming that producers pass on the costs to the consumer, which they probably do all the time, but there is no "net" inflation in entire economy without additional money printing. What you are describing is "price" inflation, which is subject to supply & demand. However when a producer increases it prices, it increases the likely hood he will sell less, not more in a competitive market. He will likely cut less efficient workers, replace them even. Higher wages, less workers

[warpicachu]

Rep. Byrne is a poor stupid woman

[GuardofLiberty]

Wonderful, lady, use an ad-hominem when your economic theories are revealed as the voodoo that they are.

Keep at e'm Jan!

[wwwdotLPdotorg]

She fails to realize that the inflation would be in wages and would increase unemployment.

[jadam914]

I think she was a really good sport compared to some of the other interviews.

[MatteNoob]

She also spoke about rising prices as inflation. Inflation is a term used to describe expansion of the money supply. Rising prices are an effect of expanding money supply, ie inflation.

Also notice how she tries to put the focus on his economic education to lead away from her incoherent babble (which she knew was babble). The laugh she made after that joke was imho to hide her true emotions. The emotion of frustration about him "riding" her to the forest. :)

[sdkee]

Is it any wonder that our economy is in the toilet when you've got ignorant morons like this Ms Byrne setting the economic policy?

What if we set the minimum wage at (place pinky next to lip) ONE MILLION DOLLARS! And what if we, at the same, time burn all the money in the economy in a furnace. Do you get inflation or unemployment? Justify your answer by use of logic (as opposed to bald assertions) for full credit.

[wkruk1979]

I suppose we should go back to the glory days of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, aye?

You know, the days of child labor, the 15 hour work day, dirt cheap slave wages, horrible and dangerous working conditions, the days of wholly unregulated monopolies which dominated entire idustries while exploiting thousands and thousands, the good ol' days of impoverished, 3rd world America....you know, real "capitalism".

[sdkee]

*Sigh*. I use logic and therefore I wish evil upon helpless children. You, on the other hand, live in a logic free zone where truth is established by imagining what might happen if your wishes didn't come true.

Answer the question: Why not $1M/hr minimum wage? The answer is that a mop-pusher can't produce $1M for his employer per hour. If he could, you and I would be fools not to bid against each other to hire him for up to $999k/hr. Does this argument not also apply for smaller numbers?

[WorBlux]

All of that progressive rhetoric is both out of context or flat out wrong.

Standard oil had over 50 competitors when it was "busted". As just one example.

The factories also could have not been so bad, since millions left subsitence farms to work there. And today millions do so as well as a first step to modernization.

[DebisisRobustus]

@sdkee it's so strikingly depressing.

[wkruk1979]

Fair wage for fair work EXACTILY that is what im talking about

the AFL CIO by my house shut down a doctors office for not paying people the minimum wage. how would u like to get your blood drawn by someone getting paid 5 hr?

Not to safe if you ask me (probably someone off the street) he refused to pay fair wages now he must pay them back in court and he lost his practice

[wkruk1979]

weakest wage earner , someone that only makes enough to go beck and forth to work that dose not help the economy "It is not communism to refuse to subsidize welfare crack babies." what dose overtime pay have to do w/ crack babies

its a law like minimum wage

[wkruk1979]

i think this is maybe a effort to lower peoples living standards

maybe that is what some have tried to do all along

btw

my father ownes a small business and supports a higher minimum wage because he pays people 12 to start and he knows business are cheap and dis respect their workers

[wkruk1979]

this economy will only be as storng as the wakest wage earner

i fight for a wage that people can make ends meet on. we fought for overtime pay after 40 hours now we have people trying to take things away from us? that is communism

we are not at the mercy of the employeers they MUST treat employees respectfully and obey the labor laws anything less is slavery

[wkruk1979]

not everyone pays people well for having skills we must force them to

if you pay low you get terrible help end of story

[wkruk1979]

its a price floor "this low and no lower"

[wkruk1979]

i dont have the same skills that someone else

but to get rid of the minimum wage some idiot wil ltake a job for a dollar an hr and that lowers the pay for everyone

[wkruk1979]

will u work for ten cents an hr?

[buddjas1]

Wow. I am almost speechless at her lack of understanding of basic economics. And, then, her laughing simply shows insecurity. I think she understood that she could not match Jan's knowledge of basic economics.

[BRYAN351]

Rep. Byrne does not have a FUCKING CLUE about what causes inflation, yet she has the balls to laugh at Jan and ridicule his economic aptitude. Unbelievable.

[feeknocks]

Byrne may be lost, but she's at least respectful, at least compared to the other folks jan has interviewed (and this is surprising considering jan's impatience lol)

[siggyboss]

An easier example for Rep. Byrne to understand is if the price of food skyrockets, you cannot maintain the same level of purchasing of clothing, unless you get a similar raise or print money.

[libertyeconomics]

Raising minimum wage to $10 an hour would NOT raise GENERAL prices. It would, however, create MASSIVE UNEMPLOYMENT.

[whoo689]

This woman claims that a $10/hour min. wage would be offset by increased inflation, but if that were the case, EVERYONE would be raising their prices whenever they get budget shortfalls and higher costs. We know that's not the best way to deal w/ higher costs, as it will just lead to MORE costs, as you will likely sell less. So a company manager or CEO would be a FOOL to do this. Why do some firms outsource? Because raising prices obviously won't help. Outsourcing can help LOWER prices.

[whoo689]

Who does this woman get her 'studies' from, the EPI? Lol! Yeah, like I'm gonna trust those morons. They're the same people who claim that increased unionization and union costs in places like the automotive industry DON'T make us less competitive with other nations, which defies everything economists know.

All LEGITIMATE studies on subject show that employers will have to (and often do) lay off the least-valuable workers to save money due to the increase in wages. It's common sense!

[whoo689]

The problem I find with this Jan Helfeld guy is that he's like a broken record; he keeps asking the same damn questions over and over, as if he'll get a different response. And then, understandably, many guests get irritated and leave the room cuz the discussion is going nowhere. I'm glad a guy like Jan is holding these people accountable, but for god sakes, man, ask some new stuff! Show some PROOF that these Congressmen are WRONG, not just argue with them logically.

[whoo689]

Helfeld also doesn't really seem to have balls, if you'll pardon the expression. He just gets pushed around by his interviewees and doesn't raise his voice or get in their face about it. He's completely calm in the whole interview, even while interviewees oftentimes get mad and storm the room. That's not good journalism. Good journalists hold their interviewees accountable and don't let them off the hook that easily.

[davyjames]

I think it makes them look all the worse for getting angry when he stays calm

[Nickelodeon2002]

It's sad that this women doesn't even understand basic economics....yet she has been elected to redistribute the nations wealth.....we are all so screwed.

[xkeltoix]

i wish i could see the entire interview

[uche007us]

Janefeld is kind of annoying, he keeps interupting her and taking all her statement to the slippery slope point.

Before u give me a thumbs down, I agree with Janehfeld on minimum wage

[kevinabt]

Agreed. This woman is completely capable of and willing to sink her own intellectual ship. No need to interupt her.

[lengthyounarther]

How can sombody be so stupid. The other day I got in a debate and somebody about as smart as her claimed the inflation was caused by rising prices.

[Nexus974]

Nothing like a dose of common sense....

[ihearttubing]

If minimum wages are so good, ehy don't we double or triple them then everybody would be well off?

Minimum wage laws hurt those who are least off. It puts the least skilled out of the labor market. And greatly diminishes people's incentive to better themselves through hard work and education. If you want to make more then become more. Don't be satisfied with some dead-end, stifling minimum wage job.

[peterscottfrost]

Members of Congress, with the exception of Ron Paul, are hopeless on economics. They helped create the mess we're in and now they're helping to prolong and worsen the agony. She (and most other members of Congress, apparently) thinks the minimum wage is inflationary, but only if you raise it beyond a magic limit which she cannot identify. Yet, somehow, printing hundreds of billions of dollars is NOT inflationary? Hmm... If only they would listen to Ron Paul.