The Minimum Wage Debate

[skidadl]

Funny thing about McDonalds is it's not a long road from flipping burgers to managing a restaurant. I've said many times that your fastest way out of poverty is managing a place where everyone hates to work.

A lot of these fast food managers make 40-50k or more. I saw a sign for Jack-In-Da-Box manager for 52k recently.

 

[Clay_Allison]

A lot of these fast food managers make 40-50k or more. I saw a sign for Jack-In-Da-Box manager for 52k recently.

It's a rough job but it's one of the few ways you can turn a GED and a felony conviction into a middle class income.

 

[skidadl]

It's a rough job but it's one of the few ways you can turn a GED and a felony conviction into a middle class income.

I pay my lead techs a base of 45k with all sorts of kickers. On call, closing ratio bonuses, after hours, meals, travel training, holidays off, vacation and we pretty much work with our salary guys with time off. The nature of my business is that we work like crazy at times and then we have times that we aren't doing much. It comes in waves, so if we spend weeks working around the clock I typically try to give time off for that and bonuses based on how much work they closed.

 

[skidadl]

I blabbed on there when my original point was that fast food managers are comparable to what a straight up man job pays.

 

[Clay_Allison]

I blabbed on there when my original point was that fast food managers are comparable to what a straight up man job pays.

More than I make but the time commitment is huge. If I can't spend time with my wife, money just won't make it up to me.

 

[L.T. Fan]

More than I make but the time commitment is huge. If I can't spend time with my wife, money just won't make it up to me.

That's the choice most of us have had to make in our young years. You can either invest your time trying to build a financial future or choose to use you time for personal preferences. The first allows you the opportunity to create economic stability and the latter might mame you a happy man but with meager surroundings. It is rare to.have both short of being in a wealthy family.

 

[skidadl]

More than I make but the time commitment is huge. If I can't spend time with my wife, money just won't make it up to me.

I hear you. We all gotta make our choices. I bet an old man never regretted spending more time with his wife than he did at work. I've sacrificed a bunch of income to spend time with my family. Being a high school coach cost me a bunch of money.

 

[Clay_Allison]

That's the choice most of us have had to make in our young years. You can either invest your time trying to build a financial future or choose to use you time for personal preferences. The first allows you the opportunity to create economic stability and the latter might mame you a happy man but with meager surroundings. It is rare to.have both short of being in a wealthy family.

Yeah, I've met a lot of people who picked work over family who ended up divorced. Fuck that noise. I have a limited amount of time to live and I'm not hurting for money.

 

[fortsbest]

I used to work a ton of off duty stuff and realized how much it was costing me at home. Thankfully we didn't live our lifestyle around off duty money so when I cut down so I too could be at home more it didn't hurt us financially. The off duty job cycle is so easy to get drawn into because for the most part it is such easy money.

 

[Clay_Allison]

I used to work a ton of off duty stuff and realized how much it was costing me at home. Thankfully we didn't live our lifestyle around off duty money so when I cut down so I too could be at home more it didn't hurt us financially. The off duty job cycle is so easy to get drawn into because for the most part it is such easy money.

We have unlimited overtime available at the prison and it's the same thing. Time and a half and they put you in easy spots. I worked a lot of it for a while, but when we got enough to make a down payment once we're approved for a house, I stopped doing it.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Moral and racial issues aside, slavery is best for economic efficiency, right?

Actually no. Economic efficiency has nothing to do with a cheap labor force. Slavery is actually bad for economic efficiency, it's just good if you like really bad wealth distribution. AKA all the wealth going to slave owners and none going to the slaves.

 

[skidadl]

I like the way that c-rock takes the practical approach to this thread.

 

[Smitty]

I read a great article by a liberal scholar the other day which basically admitted that raising the minimum wage doesn't help minimum wage earners and does cost jobs. His position was taxation was the only way to help the lower classes and that was what we as a society should be aiming to accomplish.

 

[Smitty]

Found them.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/12/25/minimum-wage-rises-dont-help-the-poor-so-why-raise-the-minium-wage/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/01/16/if-the-minimum-wage-doesnt-benefit-the-poor-then-whats-the-point-of-having-the-minimum-wage/

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I read a great article by a liberal scholar the other day which basically admitted that raising the minimum wage doesn't help minimum wage earners and does cost jobs. His position was taxation was the only way to help the lower classes and that was what we as a society should be aiming to accomplish.

He is correct about taxes. It's the best way to improve wealth distribution but when you tax income it also hurts economic efficiency. It's essentially a trade off.

 

[Smitty]

He is correct about taxes. It's the best way to improve wealth distribution but when you tax income it also hurts economic efficiency. It's essentially a trade off.

Sure. And we can have a separate debate on taxes.

For now, we can be reassured that the even the liberals are admitting raising the minimum wage is pointless or even harmful.

 

[Clay_Allison]

Sure. And we can have a separate debate on taxes.

For now, we can be reassured that the even the liberals are admitting raising the minimum wage is pointless or even harmful.

As a libertarian with some old school populist ideals I tend to agree. Raising the minimum wage only makes food more expensive for the poor.

 

[L.T. Fan]

He is correct about taxes. It's the best way to improve wealth distribution but when you tax income it also hurts economic efficiency. It's essentially a trade off.

Not to mention if you tax wealth too much they will pull back on investment,expansion and domestic production. Obviously jobs are affected adversely.

 

[Newt]

Yeah, I've met a lot of people who picked work over family who ended up divorced. Fuck that noise. I have a limited amount of time to live and I'm not hurting for money.

I can see this becoming a problem for me in the future, I work a lot, and I'm on call 99% of the time. But the willingness to be that guy has gotten me a lot as well. Hopefully when I get where I'm going (which is only one promotion away) I can cut the majority of that out and let someone take over the responsibility. Not sure if it works like that though. I know I don't like having to explain to the kid why I work so much, it hurts the heart.

 

[jeebs]

Moral and racial issues aside, slavery is best for economic efficiency, right?

NO! Social efficiency, sure, but economic efficiency absolutely not!!!