Minimum Wage

2008 Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader discusses raising the minimum wage and challenges the other candidates to commit to raising it.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ralph
• nader
• president
• 2008
• mccain
• obama
• living
• minimum
• wage
• workers
• rights

[Sondre7]

Raise minimum wage to $10,000 an hour and we'll all be rich!

[thoughtsurfer1]

If minimum wages hurt the economy, why is the unemployment rate in Ontario less than ours, where the MW is 10.50 an hour?

[JonahTorn]

@Sondre7 Something to keep i mind about productivity is that employee productivity is controlled by the employee.. If their is no minimum nationally individual companies may find that workers will organize, seek contracts to raise their wages above a minimum and seek raises benefits ect.... before they produce anything.

[quarterxchange]

@fububalla Absolutely it can assuming the workers are not laid off. The Federal Reserve also has not helped one bit. All the government can do is institute price controls to limit the rise of prices, which leads to less goods and services being offered and has done so in the past.

[quarterxchange]

@thoughtsurfer1 The unemployment rate in the Soviet Union was 0%.

Less unemployment =/= better economy in and of itselft.

[quarterxchange]

@fububalla There are several other factors that are also in play. It is much harder to fire workers in those countries and such. Regardless, there is no reason to suggest that somehow the minimum wage raises wages, because if raising the minimum wage raised raises, then it would make sense to raise it to hundreds of dollars and hour.

[kealad1]

um hasn't he run for president like 20 times, and his highest percentage with what 5%

[fububalla]

@Sondre7 I agree with your first point but disagree with tthe second. Youth's aren't unproductive, they are unskilled! there's a difference. An 18 y/o has much more vitality than a 38 y/o wouldn't you say?

Youth's today principally lack education and motivation and understandbly so given our social priorities. Teens shouldn't have to depend on mcdonalds, walmart, or best buy to make money and contribute to society. Working for corps isn't contrib. to society, its contributin to a private biz

[Sondre7]

@fububalla I don't know much about history. But I do know that there are rarely only one policy variable explaining the course of events. My guess is that the minimum wage plays a small role on the economy as a whole. Although a quite large role in explaining unemployment among low-productivity groups such as young people.

[fububalla]

@Sondre7 I apologize for calling you a republican, I was a little upset. May I ask why the lack of a Minimum Wage and the cutting of taxes did not even slightly stop the gargantuan unemployment figures in the late 1920's-30s?

Then the MWage laws and higher taxes (along with other economic events of course) propelled us into the 50's 60's where the middle started to get a leg up in the world?

[fububalla]

@cloudbuster77 @Sondre7 and the economy was awesome during the 60's!

[Sondre7]

@fububalla I am not a republican, I'm not very political. Yet I do know that almost all research into the minimum wage produce the result that it lower employment, and little else. Read the wikipedia article.