07-07-2016, 12:05 PM
(07-06-2016, 08:05 PM)Drakus79 Wrote: Raising the minimum wage will only result in less jobs and will only encourage more businesses to replace people with less costly machines.
Most studies show that raising the minimum wage stimulates the economy because workers can then buy more. Automation seems inevitable anyway, and usually affects workers on higher pay scales than the minimum wage. I don't see any excuse for employers not to pay their employees a living wage. Not doing so is mere slavery. Since the economic libertarians took control under Reagan, the minimum wage has been flat for long periods, and is now much lower compared to inflation than in the sixties.
Quote:Now a universal basic income? That might work. Gary Johnson's tax prebate check is the beginning of such an idea. People will get paid regardless of whether they're working so, unlike welfare or unemployment checks, people will still have the incentive to get a job because they won't stop getting their government checks when they do start working. Plus it's a good safety net for workers whose jobs will inevitably be replaced by machines as we move into an automated economy. Then we can use the money to do the things we want to do and create entirely new professions.
Johnson has a point there. The earned income credit instituted by Bill Clinton was a start in this direction.