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For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

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Re: For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

#211

Post by corporate_shi11 »

luckydata wrote: post #182
pkaye wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nearly a 2x difference in rate between white and native americans vs blacks, asians and hispanics. I'm wondering if there is a good understanding of that difference. I don't think it is just economic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States#/...

Because if you're told you're supposed to "make it" since birth, and you don't, you feel like a piece of shit. Marginalized communities have been told the other story, every little thing is a win. Difference in expectations is huge, and source of all sort of bad things (like racial resentment etc...). Solution: make this country slightly less "dog eat dog" and you'll solve a LOT of social issues almost overnight.

Using the term "marginalized communities" as a broad descriptor for people with a certain skin color in America is misguided and counterproductive. It paints a distorted view of reality and is a political statement more than anything else.

Re: For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

#212

Post by kick »

kangnkodos wrote: post #107
tombert wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a common trope, but there have been studies indicating that minimum wage doesn't have a significant effect on unemployment. [0] [1] Assuming that's accurate, then shouldn't we mandate that these corporations pay their workers a livable wage? If they don't pay the workers a livable wage, guess who does? The taxpayers, in the form of food stamps, welfare, and increased prison population. I really don't see why t…

Economists can't run experiments like other scientists. In a way, they are more like historians. In my opinion, almost all of the actual past raises to minimum wage have been on the small side, and have not significantly affected unemployment. You're right about that. But if my opinion is true, then there's a huge leap with no scientific basis to saying "therefore this specific large increase in minimum wage will not…

Economists aren't scientists, which is important to remember. "Artists" is a better term, especially for the fellows at GMU.

Re: For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

#213

Post by Barrin92 »

taborj wrote: post #142
Kye wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "and the effect would be stopping anybody new from becoming rich." I read this as you thinking there's a problem with no more people getting rich. Can you expand on that? For example: how many people need to get rich to balance the economic, social, and political power of the people who already are? Is this the best way to achieve that balance?

How many things were invented or financed because someone wanted to get rich? What happens to those types of things when it's impossible to get rich? The answer is they don't happen here, they'll happen somewhere else. They may happen with the same people even, and then you're losing knowledge and experience to other countries, which is fine as long as those other countries choose to be friendly with you. In other wo…

>How many things were invented or financed because someone wanted to get rich?

Not as many as you think I would suggest. In the US a golden era of invention was the postwar era during which inequality fell and the American middle class rose to power and the American government still participated actively in shaping innovation and economic future. Even the Soviet Union invented a good deal of stuff.

Today economic growth is low, inequality is high, it looks like we're on our way to a second gilded age and the things that we call innovation are escooter startups and expensive juice machines. Even die-hard capitalists like Thiel have pointed this out.

If you want innovation what you need is a healthy, equal society, individual opportunity and collective ambition.

Re: For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

#214

Post by refurb »

marcosdumay wrote: post #200
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #19

What would increased minimum wage due to small business (<$50m/yr in revenue)? Wouldn't it force them to cut shifts/hours/consolidate positions?

When everybody raises prices at the same time, business survive.

Only if demand is entirely in elastic.

You can be damn sure if the cost of mobile phones suddenly doubled, a lot fewer phones would be purchased and companies would go out of business.

Re: For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

#215

Post by SSSDFRO »

kick wrote: post #195
Kiro wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The minimum wage in Denmark is 0.

Non-sequitur. Denmark has incredibly high tax rates and a welfare state that runs laps around any North American country.

Partially because their min wage is 0

Re: For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

#216

Post by HarryHirsch »

dmwallin wrote: post #189
14 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hope we do not get a UBI in any current forms. I know the second the stores realize that every person now has 'x' amount of dollars to spend, they will raise the prices to match the most they can extract. What I wish Canada would do instead is establish some sort of Universal Basic Rights like every man woman and child is entitled to 5lbs of potatoes a week, 1 gallon of milk, 1 pound of carrots, ect. I as a…

> I know the second the stores realize that every person now has 'x' amount of dollars to spend, they will raise the prices to match the most they can extract. That's not how economics works. The prices most stores charge is limited by competition. The only areas you might see an effect are in ones where supply is highly, and likely artificially, constrained.

Housing is artificially constrained due to zoning regulation, and in any given area there is a small number of major landlords, who all know each other and who all are politically well connected. UBI will be a conduit to funnel money from the taxpayers to large landowners.

Re: For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

#217

Post by closetohome »

funklute wrote: post #14
tempsy wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

making a living wage, and I would hardly call $1 above the current min wage a "living" wage, has nothing to do with having more money to buy things with and everything to do with feeling psychologically safe from spiraling into debt and possible homelessness. the lack of a psychological safety net is one of the most anxiety inducing things about American capitalism. we underestimate as a society how damaging it is be…

> we underestimate as a society how damaging it is because it's so hard to measure I'm not sure I agree with that. It has been known within public health for decades that poverty is an important predictor of life expectancy and quality of life. The real problem in the US appears to be a deep cultural belief in self-sufficiency, and an accompanying unwillingness to vote for politicians who support implementation of sa…

> It has been known within public health for decades

If public health officials were running the planet, we'd all be better off.

Re: For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

#218

Post by HarryHirsch »

rayiner wrote: post #205
luckydata wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because if you're told you're supposed to "make it" since birth, and you don't, you feel like a piece of shit. Marginalized communities have been told the other story, every little thing is a win. Difference in expectations is huge, and source of all sort of bad things (like racial resentment etc...). Solution: make this country slightly less "dog eat dog" and you'll solve a LOT of social issues almost overnight.

Is there evidence for this? An alternative explanation is that black and Hispanic people are more likely to be religious, and religious people have lower suicide rates in the United States. They are also more likely to have kids, which also is associated with lower suicide rates.

more likely to be religious

That's not necessarily a contradiction, since churches double as social clubs and Christian charity means supporting your neighbour who is in trouble. So if you are active in a church you belong to a circle that is a little less dog-eat-dog. Same thing with immigrant communities.

Re: For suicide prevention, try raising the minimum wage, research suggests

#219

Post by charlesu »

taborj wrote: post #146
wallace_f wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US healthcare is corrupt and inefficient. It's not only a debate about who should pay for it. Your comment suggests changing the latter would fix the problem with cost, which surely has a lot to do with the former.

It always makes me chuckle when people cite health care being inefficient as a reason to let the government run it. (Not saying you're doing that, you just reminded me of it)

What is chuckle worthy about the government running healthcare? Plenty of countries have good government run healthcare system. Several studies have found that patients on Medicare are generally more satisfied with their healthcare than patients with private insurance. Government can run health care.
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