A ‘very credible’ new study on Seattle’s $15 minimum wage has bad news

Post by harimau777 » Mon, Jun 26, 2017, 5:26 PM UTC

rukittenme wrote: post #10

runako wrote: post #5

>> to avoid confusing establishments that were subject to the minimum with those that were not, the authors did not include large employers with locations both inside and outside of Seattle in their calculations. I read this to mean that the study therefore would exclude employers such as Seattle-based Starbucks, Seattle-based Amazon, Seattle-based Costco, Seattle-based Nordstrom, McDonald's, etc. Based on that readi…

I'm not intelligent enough to say either way. I do think that excluding them was a good idea. If the only businesses that can survive a law are massive multi-national corporations, we've got a problem...

Post by ancap » Mon, Jun 26, 2017, 5:27 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #63

atemerev wrote: post #54

There is an excellent free (and very short) book, "Economics in one lesson" by Henry Hazlitt, which explains very logically why minimum wage, rent controls and other "band-aid" economical measures always end badly: https://mises.org/system/tdf/Henry%20Hazlitt%20Economics%20i... It is like 2-hour reading, but very enlightening.

Let's be clear here that Hazlitt is not himself an economist.

Post by googletazer » Mon, Jun 26, 2017, 5:28 PM UTC

lend000 wrote: post #99

coldpie wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On the other hand, the minimum wage definitely benefits middle class teenagers on their first jobs (if they can get a job), and has questionable benefit for millennial humanities college grads who have yet to start a career. This is the problem. Everyone working 40 hours per week deserves a living wage, whether they're fresh out of high school or 8 years into a humanities degree. There's this weird sense out there…

> Otherwise you're just making people depend on our social safety net, and no one wants that. I suppose the homeless and chronically unemployed people you've condemned do not usually use public assistance? I disagree with this, and regardless, it doesn't sound like a good solution for them. There are a lot of cheap places out there (see: Midwest, South), but unfortunately, millennials do not want to live there. I wou…

Post by dragonwriter » Mon, Jun 26, 2017, 5:28 PM UTC

Veelox wrote: post #109

dragonwriter wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Long-term capital gains are taxed lower than normal generic income (at rates lower than the same person would pay in income tax) which in turn taxed lower than labor income (which is, in addition to regular income tax, subject to payroll tax.) Closing the capital gains tax loophole is, presumably, a reference to stopping some or all of this favorable treatment.

Just to make sure I understand you, you are advocating counting long-term capital gains as ordinary income?

Post by sideshowb » Mon, Jun 26, 2017, 5:31 PM UTC

lend000 wrote: post #42

The problem I have with the minimum wage is that it transfers wealth from the very poorest to the mid-working class/lower middle class. Who am I to tell a homeless person that she is legally forbidden to engage in a voluntary, hourly employment contract for less than $15/hr? I would effectively be guaranteeing that she stays unemployed/homeless. Regardless of practical effects (which are ambiguous at best), it's wron…