The "New" Minimum Wage - $70k

[iluvatar5150]

I claimed 12K last year, and that was plenty for me to live on, have a vacation, eat out, pay my bills, tithe, make offerings, and buy some stuff.

It's no surprise we are the among the most entitled richest nations in the world, if 70K is considered minimum wage.

How much does your housing cost? In many, many places, $12k/yr won't even cover basics like housing, transportation, and food.

Being poor in money as I have been the last couple of years has given me insight into just how privileged and rich we are as Americans. We consider 50 or 60K the minimum we can live on. It's really more that we need to reconsider what our standard of living is, and should be.

Part of it is about people in cheap areas having no idea how expensive it can be to live in certain areas of the country.

I have a friend who owns a small bolt & fastener company. A very small operation that services regional shops. It's my friend, 2 floor managers, and 26 employees. He makes ~$85k, his two managers ~$50k, and the employees on the floor make $10-$12/hour + x1.5 OT when applicable (depending on how long they've been there)...he does provide health benefits to his employees...so all & all, he's a pretty fair business owner. With the minimum wage where it's at now, it doesn't impact him since he already pays well above that. However, if the minimum wage was increase to $15/hour tomorrow, that would definitely have a negative impact.

If that happened tomorrow, that would increase his costs by ~$160,000/year.

Here would be his options to cover those costs.
He could lay off 1 manager, and 3 of his 26 floor workers in addition to giving himself a $5k pay cut to offset the cost
He could scale back their hours (so that they're technically making the same amount, just working fewer hours per week)
Increase his price per unit by enough to offset the new cost

Each of these things either negatively impacts him or his employees...or makes him less competitive with larger state & national companies.

Or they could just sell more product. With that size staff, his gross revenues ought to be about in the $6-8 million range, right? If he can boost his sales by a few percent, he'd have it covered.

From the article:

Mr. Moran also fretted that the extra money could over time become too enticing to give up, keeping him from his primary goal of further developing his web skills and moving to a digital company.

And the attention was vexing. “I was kind of uncomfortable and didn’t like having my wage advertised so publicly and so blatantly,” he said, echoing a sentiment of several Gravity staff members. “It changed perspectives and expectations of you, whether it’s the amount you tip on a cup of coffee that day or family and friends now calling you for a loan.”

The web developer's an idiot.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Or they could just sell more product. With that size staff, his gross revenues ought to be about in the $6-8 million range, right? If he can boost his sales by a few percent, he'd have it covered.

The reality is, everyone can't 'sell more product'. There's a limited number of buyers out there, and with competition, there are winners and there are losers. Drastic adjustments to the minimum wage give an advantage to companies that are already bigger and cover a wider customer base and do more volume. There's X number of buyers with a need for product ABC...it's impossible for all producers of ABC to simultaneously sell more product. One producer selling more means that another producer lost some business.

Essentially, minimum wage increases give an additional edge to companies that are already on top.

Here's a visual that helps explain it.

"From this day forward, every truck owner now has to put a 800 anvil in the bed of their truck"

 

[Billnew]

Just what do you consider a credible source? Is Forbes or The New York Times good enough?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbu...um-salaries-isnt-enough-for-gravity-payments/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/b...klash-against-the-raise-that-roared.html?_r=1

When I checked yesterday it was all the Rightwing media, in the story they linked Forbes and NYtimes but the link went to the home pages, not the story.
Many sources today are reporting this story. But that is why I asked, because my search didn't bring any "fair" media outlets.
If I had found either of your links I wouldn't have asked.
Thanks.
In this story, I didn't doubt, but I like to verify as much as I can.

 

[stamperben]

The 7 most dangerous myths about a $15 minimum wage

1) Myth: The minimum wage was never supposed to be a living wage
2) Myth: An increase in the minimum wage won’t help anyone if all other costs go up, too
3) Myth: An increase in the minimum wage is bad for employers
4) Myth: $15 is a random number
5) Myth: It will cost us jobs and raise unemployment
6) Myth: Only teenagers and uneducated people work for the minimum wage
7) Myth: Seattle already has a $15 minimum wage and it’s terrible​

 

[keith99]

When I checked yesterday it was all the Rightwing media, in the story they linked Forbes and NYtimes but the link went to the home pages, not the story.
Many sources today are reporting this story. But that is why I asked, because my search didn't bring any "fair" media outlets.
If I had found either of your links I wouldn't have asked.
Thanks.
In this story, I didn't doubt, but I like to verify as much as I can.

The articles were dated 8/2 and 7/30, so they should have been there yesterday. But they might have been hard to find, just where something is in a search that gives thousands (or more) hits can change in just a few hours.

Also I only got the Times hit because the link in the Forbes hit was accurate. The Forbes hit at first seemed to only hit the main page but when I hit the 'continue to site' button (which was quite missable) it did go to the article.

A hint that I learned from cycling of all things. If you want information use names. Long ago I wanted to find information on the 1969 Tour de France. Putting in "1969 Tour de France" probably found what I wanted. I don't know. I do know the first 3 or 4 pages of results were pretty much all for travel packages, most for the upcoming or last Tour de France. But when I put in the names of 2 or 3 prominent riders in the 1969 Tour I got hits on the first page, and they were obvious from the name. In that case when it said Tour de France I had a hit for what I wanted.

In this case I got hits that were not buried in garbage using just the company name. If that failed I would have tried the names of the employees that quit. Verification is usually easier than finding initial information.

 

[USCGrad90]

I read this story, but found no credible news source that ran this story.

Not sure where you are looking, but Google pulls up numerous links if you look. Here are a few:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-govern...cklash-after-raising-minimum-salary-to-70000/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/1/dan-price-seattle-ceo-who-set-company-minimum-wage/
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/b...ing-a-new-minimum-wage-70000-a-year.html?_r=0
http://time.com/money/3831828/ceo-raise-70000-dan-price/

 

[USCGrad90]

This man's mistake was to make no differentiation between employes based on skill, experience, or even amount of time they spend in the office. If you nearly double some peoples salaries and raise others by less than 5%, there are bound to be problems.
If people's salaries are increased to be equal with others, then the work quality and quantity should be expected to be the same - which is unrealistic. He would have been better off to have planned a flat percent or dollar amount increase rather than different amounts for everyone.

 

[jsimms615]

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