Sunday, April 09, 2006

A new minimum wage

This article, by John Rogers, debates whether or not there should be an increase in minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 in Tennessee. Not only is this topic currently being discussed in Tennessee, but it is being debated in almost every single state all over the United States. Surprisingly though, not everyone is agreeing with the wage increase. Many people feel that if wages increase, then employment will fall. But hasn’t employment already fallen to some extent because of the minimum wage? I mean how many of us have worked at a job, only to quit after a few months because we are not being paid enough? It’s hard for people to work at a job for a while that does not pay very much over minimum wage, especially when according to Senator Doug Jackson “the $5.15 rate has failed to keep up with inflation.” Why doesn’t the government want to do something about it now instead of waiting until people are fed up with low wages? Shouldn’t the government be more worried about keeping the employees happy instead of trying to save a buck or two?

1 comment:

Adam Marzheuser said...

I personally would very much like the minimum wage to go up slightly. However, I remember in Price Floors that by raising the minimum wage, the gap between the demand and supply curves on a graph for worker hours will grow larger, therefore causing an increase in unemployment. I believe that this issue along with rent control are some of the biggest challenges that the government has to put up with on a daily basis. I do believe that they try their hardest to find the best solutions, but that will take time.