Saturday, February 10, 2007

Minimun Wage Effect on Economy?

Many college students were more than likely looking forward to the increase in minimum wage. But when coming back from winter break and learning that their hours would be cut, was probably not a pleasant thing to hear. Yes, they are earning their money quicker, but more money is what we hand in mind. So how does this have an effect on the economy? Individual employees will be obligated to earn more money, and in response companies would have to cut employees or start cutting hours. However, it is still unsure on what the effect will be, could this have a positive effect on the economy?

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Many people think the idea of raising the minimum wage is a good idea, I'm one of those. But most likely when the pay goes up so does the cost of the good that people need to buy. The idea to raise minimum wage may also create a cut in jobs increasing the unemployment rate, because managers of business can't afford to pay workers.

sidra said...

I think that increasing minimum wage will have a positive and negative effect on the economy. It will be positive for companies and businesses because the quality and efficiency of the work being done will be increased. This is because jobs will be more competitive to attain and only the most productive workers will have job, benefiting companies because they will become more productive.

Increasing minimum wage will have a negative impact on the job market because many businesses wouldn't have enough money to keep as many workers, so many of them would lose their jobs, due to scarcity.

Jessica Tucker said...

The minimum wage increase has a negative effect on the economy. Yes, minimum wage went up and people with minimum wage jobs were happy, for awhile. Since the minimum wage increase, hours got cut, jobs became scarce, and prices went up. Also, the people who do not make minimum wage do not get an increase in pay. So for example, at Arby's. The crew members there got an increase in pay because of the minimum wage increase, but the managers and team leaders, who are above the crew members, got absolutely no increase in pay and are not making that much more than the crew members now, which means that there is less incentive for them to take on more responsibility. The crew members didn't really make out either, because now they are working fewer hours and are not getting free employee meals anymore and the raises went from every three months to once a year. And prices at businesses are going up all around us. This minimum wage increase, although sounded good at first, is probably one of the worst things to happen to our economy and the people in it.

Matt Dutko said...

I feel that the increase of the minimum wage will have a negative impact on the economy. The problem with an increase is while the amount of money people make increases, so does the costs of goods and services. A simple explanation for this is supply and demand, people are going to have more money to spend and companies are going to use this to their advantage by raising the prices of their offerings. While this will not happen immediately, eventually the cost of everything will go up, just think of how much it used to cost to buy a school lunch when you were in elementary school, the price is much different now.

Eric said...

I think you must take into consideration the effect of raising minimum wage on people who are making a little more then minimum wage. For a person who was making 10 dollars an hour, their wage is not going to increase but the goods that they will consume will become more expensive. I think this will have a negative effect on people in that situation.

Brittany D said...

I come from a state where the minimum wage is $7.40 and hour. This state is Connecticut, it is becoming one of the more expensive states to live in because minimum wage is so high it only allows for the cost of living to increase. I am for minimum wage increases just because I am at that age where the jobs I have pay minimum wage, but as I get older I see the long term effects minimum wage increase have on the job market and how the price of goods increases. I see both postitives and negatives but the negatives out weight the postive effects this has on an economy.

Joshua Busser said...

The raising of the minimum wage is meant to be a preemptive move, in my opinion, as we're trying to set people up for a few years rather than the short term. That being said, I believe that there is going to be a negative impact on the economy, particularly in Ohio, where costs of living are very low compared to other major cities in the United States. The minimum wage does not need to be as high in this market as seven dollars per hour - this wage seems to present more problems than benefits. Then again, most of the problems are short term in nature. Employers will adjust hours, prices will correct based on the new wage, and the market will be at the same point a few years from now - we'll be talking about another needed minimum wage increase sooner than you think.

Matt Sleyzak said...

I think that raising the minimum wage is a bad idea. The reason behind this is because with the rising of minimum wage, goods also increase. Our economy will have a negative effect by the rising of minimum wage because everything has to rise by whatever the minimum wage is raised by. So if it raised by two dollars than other goods and services will raise by two dollars or so. That is why I believe raising wages will have a negative effect on our economy