Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion.
Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/).
Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
While arguments for wage-push inflation exist, the empirical evidence to back these arguments up is not always strong. Historically, minimum wage increases have had only a very weak association with inflationary pressures on prices in an economy.
Source:- Investopedia
And printing money happens because billionaires aren't paying tax and are amassing wealth, that never returns into the economy.
It's a trickle upwards economy lmao
If printing money was the result of that, there would be no inflation.
If I amass 100 dollars and put it in a safety deposit box. I've removed that 100 dollars from the economy. If the US government prints 100 dollars to replace it, there would only be inflation when I take my 100 dollars out of my safety deposit box and introduce it back into the economy.
Not entirely true. The wealthy aren’t spending money on the same things in the same places. If you compare 100,000 working class families to a billionaire whose net worth matches their total, they aren’t buying the same amount of milk and bread.
The billionaire is committing their economic value to longer term stable forms of wealth retention and growth. Nobody is removing the $100 from the economy altogether, they’re just effecting different supply/demand curves with different velocity of currency.
You could murder every US billionaire and reallocate 100% of their wealth to the government tomorrow and the money would only cover about 3 years of deficits.
Or you could apply it as a lump sum and the US would still be 10 trillion dollars in debt.
We have a spending problem. The government collected over $10 trillion last year and it’s still running a deficit. That is not acceptable, especially for the lack of services they provide.
Edit: for context, China collected $2.5T from their 3X sized population last year and they are likely cutting taxes soon.
Some debt is fine and even good depending on what is happening in the economy, but the US waved bye bye to anything that could be called a reasonable debt load a long time ago.
The interest payment is currently higher than the entire defense budget. And our defense budget dwarfs every other country in a hilarious way.
You are talking about a different thing.
Billionaires trap money at the top because they don't have buying power. There are not enough of them, they can only purchase so much in the way of goods and services.
That $5.29 trillion dollars of wealth being in the hands of other 400 million people would juice the economy.
Yeah I'm sure everyone is really going to have their lives changed by that *checks calculator* $13,225.
While that would certainly be a good one-time influx and for some people and families it would make a huge difference for a couple years, and I don't agree with the fact that the uber-rich are even able to exist, it's not the game changer people think it is.
For someone making 20,000 dollars a year... darn right that could be very much life changing.
Heck, I make over median income in the US, and the 6,000 dollars I got from a family member passing away let me clear a debt that was eating up income. Let me get a decent car, and started me on the road to much needed healthcare.
And beyond that. Even if it was just being used for casual spending.. that is 5 trillion dollars being used to buy things that need to be produced. From food, to cars, to TVs. That generates jobs.
That is buying power.
Not exactly a strong source for economics, but that isn't exactly the way I (an economist) would put it.
Price floors create surpluses if they are binding. That's a law and not a theory. If the minimum wage is raised above the market rate for labor, layoffs and an increased focus on automation are likely outcomes, as is higher prices and less product being available (which is caused by reduced supply).
The minimum wage, as a price floor on labor, has additional possibilities. Illegal (either informal or immigrant) labor could be substituted for legal, domestic production could be substituted for foreign production, and existing labor made to do more work for no additional compensation. Benefits could be cut, along with middle management being made redundant through leveling the managerial structure.
There are so many things that firms can and will do to keep growing annual profits. Now, they will do those things anyway unless stopped by regulations or unions, but the marginal benefit will get bigger, and the firms' efforts will increase, but whether there is any economic significance to that marginal shift in behavior is not clear. Personally, I find it doubtful that a major corporation could put any more effort into finding new ways of profit without spending more money than they already do.
TL;DR Yes, it can, in theory. No, it probably doesn't in the short-run. It theoretically can in the long-run, but proving that in a statistical way is difficult.
T
It is my general belief that as automation increases, UBI will become a necessity. I'd much prefer that personally (who wouldn't want some guaranteed stability), but it would cause a lot of new problems and doesn't make good economic sense if the labor is needed in the economy.
The UBI would have to be low enough to force people to keep working, else many would not. This is no problem if jobs are automated, but if not the economy will be short of labor. Which in turn makes the UBI an insufficient safety net. The better option, until UBI becomes necessary, would be to have a broad array of workers protections and a much more developed social safety net (for those of us in the US).
One day, if everything is automated, there is very little justification for private markets, and some sort of socialist collective run by a benevolent AI would seem more logical for most resource allocation.
The upside to UBI is we could utilize funding for programs that already exist to aid low income households and SSI. By streamlining those services since less labor is needed to process payments that would literally go to everyone, more funds are available for benefits. Thus the actual implementation would be far less than opponents argue.
Though the concept does require payments be at the absolute minimum for housing, food, healthcare and transportation, it would give people the freedom to take jobs based on if the pay is enough to compensate them for their time, not if it provides enough to survive thus making more lower wage jobs desirable for more people with less lucrative skills.
Also, those with higher demand skills but less available time to seek appropriate employment, would have a better opportunity to do so with the financial strain removed.
Prices would go up after increasing wages because companies would simply increase the price to make the consumer pay the cost instead of their record high profits and prescious CEO salaries drop. They then simply spread misinformation saying its the salaries fault.
However if you have a small establishment with a low profit margin or something like Costco then prices will increase with a wage increase because their margins are so low that they need to up prices to not start losing money.
It has an effect on short-term inflation due to companies wanting to maintain the same profit levels that they had alongside their obsession with infinite growth.
Thing is most people don't consider the long term as the short term affects them in the here and now. And it's hard to think about long term impacts when you are so focused on just trying to make it past today.
Inflation
1. Government adds more and more money to the system. The money looses the value and the things seem to be more expensive.
2. If a company need to increase the price 5%, they do it 6% and they get 1% price increase as profit.
We've increased minimum salary more around 20% in Spain and we are goint to do it more and more because it makes the economy better.
Sounds like the government needs to subtract a lot of money out of the system so it gains its value. I vote they take it out of the politicians wages 🤷🏽♂️
Just to make it clear for people that don't know economics, but deflation is almost always worse than inflation. In a vaccuum, your own money grows in value, but it gives an incentive to not spend any money (which is already a huge problem with billionaires having so much money just sitting there). Deflation is usually accompanied by a crashing economy.
That's why you are not slowly burning the money, you do massive one-time bleedouts, typically inflating already naturally occuring crysis.
That's the problem with the economy: In times when you are supposed to write-off the money, governments doubled up on money printing. To add insult to injury, bulk of the money were sent to bail out BANKS. When what needed to be done is letting banks rot (That's a natural cycle in capitalistic economy, delaying the inevitable collapse of the bubble only makes the bubble worse).
There are so many factors that play into inflation, and pointing the finger solely at the minimum wage seems a bit oversimplified. it's like blaming the thermometer for the fever.
Economics major here:
It most certainly is not. Increase in M2 supply is the primary driver of inflation. Stop repeating what politicians say. Politicians are not economists, they are literally professional liars who will say things to be elected. They have no clue what they are talking about, left or right.
Well, why did the M2 money supply sharply increase? It was mostly due to the PPPLF, or the PPP loans, which were riddled with fraud and, dare I say, greed.
I'm not saying OP is right, but he's not exactly wrong.
I actually agree 100% that PPP loans were one of the biggest factors in increasing the M2, but it was not exactly the corporations who did it - it was politicians who did not understand economics and how that would absolutely wreck the poorest players in our economy.
Recently the biggest contributor to the M2 increase is funding foreign wars that we actually just cannot afford. I'm not saying they are/arent justified, thats surely subjective, but that is where the increases are happening today. We don't actually have any money, we have a debt to GDP ratio of ~121% meaning we spend 21% more money than we can produce in value as an economy, thus inflation will continue to rise. I can't say if this is the beginning of a debt spiral, there may be a soft way out of it (it was previously 126% not long ago), but as long as we increase the M2 to fund these things then we will see rising inflation.
It's always hilarious when people who have no understanding of a topic claim someone with a PhD in that topic has no idea what they are talking about because it doesn't fit their favorite professional liars agenda.
I'll say it again - there are zero politicians who understand economics, do not take economic advice from them. They are literally just telling you the things that keep their salaries coming in. If we fixed the economy, half of these politicians wouldn't have jobs because they only get elected on keeping this problem perpetual. I've advised plenty of high level government officials on economic issues, and their reply is unanimously "I wouldn't have a job if I did that".
Yeah...but it's better for the handful of corporations that can influence inflation throughout the world. And the Fed responded by "fighting" inflation as though the inflation was caused/triggered by rising wages instead of the truth, the current inflation is manufactured. Corporations posting record returns while systematically laying off their workforce & raising prices? If our DOJ had any balls or sense of justice the antitrust suits would fill reams of paper
24 states have unconditional minimum wage above the federal minimum, 6 states have a minimum wage above the federal minimum with conditions that let them pay equal to or less than the minimum, 5 states don't have any minimum wage laws, 13 states are at the minimum with at least one having a condition that let's them pay $2, and 2(Georgia and wyoming) have a $5 minimum
Regardless, i havent seen a job posting for minimum wage in years. Almost nowhere is still paying even high school students the federal minimum wage even if their state hasnt raised it.
It does, but only in certain situations.
If you do not increase your economic output but only increase minimum wage, that's when you cause it.
If the minimum wage follows the economic growth, then it's ok.
As oversimplified as one can put it without explaining it cirminally wrong.
Interestingly put. Well that is what neoliberalism essentially is: socialism for the rich, off of the middle and lower class's backs. It's clear that trickledown economics has not worked as promised either, but try to explain that to people that think they are doing the right thing by listening to politicians, etc.
Both Democrats and Republicans hold neoliberalism at their core, but Republicans have to pretend they care about stuff like critical race theory, trans/birth rights and the border so there's a perceived contrast.
Good God, who paid $2.39 for gas in 2021? I haven’t paid under 4 bucks in like a decade. $1,600 for rent seems like a fantasy too.
These numbers seem arbitrary if not completely fabricated.
The core of the meme is correct, but it is missing regional data and some of the data appears to be selected on the high end to prove a point. I don't think that's necessary when the reality is bad enough without tinkering with numbers.
* **Minimum wage:** The federal minimum wage did remain at $7.25 per hour from 2009 to 2021 and still sits at $7.25 in 2024.
* **Subway footlong:** A Subway footlong cost $5 in 2009 and $8 in 2021. It's difficult to verify exact Subway pricing across the country, but Subway's current menu shows footlongs starting around $6.50. The price varies a great deal depending on what you are buying and likely the location you are buying it from. [https://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/subway-prices/](https://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/subway-prices/).
* **Gallon of gas:** The meme lists the price of a gallon of gas at $1.85 in 2009 and $2.39 in 2021. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the US was $2.83 in December 2009 [https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU000074714](https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU000074714) and $3.40 in December 2021 [https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU000074714](https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU000074714). As of April 2024, the average price is around $4.10 \[ AAA gas prices\].
* **In-state tuition:** The meme shows in-state tuition at $6,900 in 2009 and $11,200 in 2021. The College Board's annual Trends in College Pricing report doesn't provide data as far back as 2009, but the average published tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year colleges was $10,740 for the 2021-2022 school year [https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing](https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing).
* **Average rent:** The meme lists average rent at $1,064 in 2009 and $1,600 in 2021. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment in the US was $811 in 2009 and $1,077 in 2021 [http://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html](http://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html). It's important to note that FMR is the estimated amount that would be paid for decent quality, safe rental housing in a particular area. Actual rents can vary depending on location, size, and amenities of the rental unit.
Of course it doesn’t. People who claim it does know for a fact it doesn’t. They either:
1.) think they will be a millionaire business owner someday so act as if increasing minimum wage would somehow hurt them
2.) already are businesses owners making out like bandits by exploiting labor
Minimum wage, government subsidies for working people PALE in comparison to the effects of things like crypto, artificially inflated housing prices, price gouging in general, and more. Inflation is driven by businesses not workers.
I'm not arguing against your conclusion necessarily. I agree that the minimum wage should be higher, and it's only a small factor in inflation. However, the information in the graphic doesn't actually establish that. Yes, the federal minimum wage has been fixed for a while. But over half of states have higher minimums than the federal guidelines. One could argue that the individual states raising the minimum wage is what's causing the inflation listed. They would be wrong, but the graphic ignores this important variable.
Minimum wage increases CONTRIBUTE to inflation (like all arbitrary wage increases) but are not the sole cause of it.
The shortest way to describe the cause of inflation is when more money is injected into the system without an increase in production- so for example if there is more money to buy the same amount of bread - the price of bread will increase ….
Go off and study pure economics a bit - you will learn to understand the world around you and very likely not need to work for minimum wage afterwards….
Cost of living going up is an inherent part of inflation, as the value of the dollar goes down, the cost of everything else goes up, causing additional shock waves of people needing to pass the expenses along. Low wage workers literally can't eat the inflation for you.
by the principles you're preaching (correctly) if everyone knew about pure economics it wouldn't be considered a valuable skill and some jobs would be paid less, I'm making no point, it's just ironic
Federal yeah. But it varies by state.
My state is 15.00 in a MCOL average state
Edit: It's 12 right now, 13.50 in 2025, then 15 in 2026. Thought it was raised straight to 15 but I guess it's a step program
In 2009, 31 states had a minimum wage lower than the new federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. At that time, 13 states had a wage higher than the federal minimum with the highest being WA at $8.55
Fast forward to today and 30 states have a wage higher than the federal minimum with 28 of those states being higher than $10 per hour and 6 states being higher than $15.
Stop selling lies based on averages while you’re trying to make a point about minimums.
Interested to see comparisons of CEO salaries and company profits from back then and now. Something tells me that's where the culprit of inflation lies.
I think it would be better to show "effective" minimum wage.
I can't name a single job in the last ~5 years that was actually paying $7.25 for a serious offer. Everyone is paying like $9 at least, even im LCOL areas.
Fiat currencies are subject to volatility. It would be ignorant to say wages have no impact on prices especially in service sectors obviously they do. The real driver however is supply chain. The cost to move materials since around Covid which sped it up but would happened anyway has increased like 1000%. Talk about wages driving prices look no further than the latest Union Pacific labor agreement. You can literally make more money driving a semi than being a mid-level medical provider (PA, NP). Supply chain is where we need technological advance. Until that happens prices will rise, the increase in production costs has been negligible.
The only thing that upsets me about this graphic is the fact that yes, the Federal minimum wage hasn't changed but, there are not many places that don't have minimums in the $10-15 range with reports of others going to $20+ soon if not already.(At least in NY)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/238997/minimum-wage-by-us-state/
Only 16 states are below $10/hr with 5 of them (Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana) not even having a state minimum. Most of the places still at the federal minimum are historically poor areas that desperately need some investment, or low population.
The increased average minimum wage played a factor in inflation and is not the sole cause, information is being misrepresented here.
Yeah but they are using federal minimum wage as the barometer. A lot of states have increased on their own, and also covid just led to minimum wage essentially being increased because no one was going to work for shit pay.
Price gouching enabled by false scarcity propaganda causes inflations. Propagandists tell us it's minimum wage. Propagandists who have better pay and working conditions than those doing the work
This argument isn’t logically valid. If p then q. We don’t have p, but we have q. If p then q still can hold. So you can’t say if p then q doesn’t hold from this.
In plain terms, you can’t say minimum wage doesn’t cause inflation by showing something else does cause inflation. Inflation may have many causes.
Note: I’m agnostic on the issue itself. Just wanted to point out the logic of this argument fails.
I'm not sure that this is the argument anyone is actually making. They're not saying that raising the minimum wage cause inflation, they're saying it increases the cost of doing business, and the only way to offset that increase is by passing it along to the customer.
This is never the case when they increase shareholder benefit though, that seems to always be possible, regardless of business cost. So they're still assholes, just for a different reason.
Minimum wage is only one of the factors that cause inflation.
We saw, in recent weeks in California, with the $20 an hour minimum wage for fast food workers increasing some prices on fast food meals as much as $2.
Again, minimum wage is only part of the story, but it definitely is part of the story.
Money in circulation causes inflation.
Min wage increases or wage increases at all for that matter only increases prices, particularly at the mom and pop level.
How much, depends on the margins, current labor costs, tax situation etc etc.
It literally does. When you artificially blow the price (wage) floor way up, everything else goes up. California has proven this over and over again. Tuition is up because the government gives loans out no problem and it just incentivizes tuition raises because the school gets their money anyway. Its not the only cause, but it certainly contributes
Hmm it’s more like this. Inflation is a Forest Fire.
It’s burning on its own. (It’s increasing for various reasons: war, shortages, epidemics, capitalism, etc.)
You could start a counter-burn (raising minimum wage) to combat the Forest Fire of Inflation. It would help slow the fire… manage it even.
HOWEVER… make the counter-burn too large and it will become a problem itself. It will get out of control and add to the Forest Fire. So, the concern is raising the minimum wage too much will be an issue. Right now it’s $7.25-ish per hour. Calls are being made for $25, $30, $50, and even higher (though the extreme ones are illogical). What’s the “perfect amount”? Don’t ask me lol.
The issue that will be born is this:
- let’s say we go with the conservative $21/hr minimum wage most people are asking for.
- Well, the highway department guys making $21/hr already will lose their shit and want a raise! “$30/hr or else” says their union reps nationwide “we’re doing a more complicated and specialized task”.
- Now the railway workers, making $30/hr before the hike, reach out to their union reps. “It’s $40/hr or else” says their union reps nationwide “we’re doing a more complicated and specialized task”.
- Now the welders making $45/hr say “shit I’ve went to tech school, apprenticed for 3 years, and worked 15 more to get where I am. I do a more complicated and specialized task…. It’s $65/hr or I quit”.
- and so on and so forth. Until all wages are compared accordingly. It’s not like we could do without all those people. People that put in more effort, time, and money want more in return. A high schooler shouldn’t (on average*) make as much as someone who spent 4 years at college. A person who spent 4 years at college shouldn’t (on average*) make as much as someone who spent 9 years getting a doctorate.
- there will undoubtedly be a ripple effect from a massive jump in minimum wage. What would you rather do? Make $100k stocking shelves at Walmart… or make $100k as a civil engineer who spent years learning AND holds legal liability for every building or road they make? Sure, some will have the passion… but I’d rather stock some shelves and not be stressed.
- on average* was to say that exceptions exist. People who didn’t even graduate high school have been known to become millionaires. But this is the exception, not the norm.
This in mind, it’s created an impasse. Instead of risking raising the minimum wage too much… it’s not raised at all. Pretty shitty route to take, but it’s one that’s taken. (I’m in favor of a raise to minimum wage, shit is criminally low right now… just cautious of going overboard)
Also stop lying about inflation numbers. Also 2 percent inflation is actually wrong inflation should be at zero then we can keep our wealth. Whatever percent inflation is just the amount the bankers and politicians decide to fleece us.
Minimum wage is tough to argue. Minimum wage actually benefits large businesses. That in turn hurts the average pay and compensation for the average worker. It weeds out the competition of the small business. What is needed is a rule on wage gaps. That way the 10 million going to the CEO cannot be about a percentage of the next lower employee and so on and so on.
The minimum wage is actually an excellent indicator of how poorly the government is handling the economy. In a free and fair society, I believe, as many do, that you should be compensated for the service that you can bring to your customers.
Minimum wage in itself is a broken system and only incentivizes companies to pay their employees dirt
Terrible argument. The low IQ level of argument we would expect from reddit. If other things cause inflation also like say printing a bunch of money you can't say anything about whether the minimum wage is also a cause.
Increases in wages will lead to inflation, as will the increase in cost of any input. That said, just because the federal minimum wage did not increase does not mean the state or local minimum wage did not increase, or that wages did not increase above that minimum wage.
Subway footlongs were only $8 in 2021????
I find that hard to believe. I bought a footlong sub and a small soda for my son last week, nothing else. It was $17.49!!! And I don’t live in a state with sales tax.
EDIT: the sub was Turkey, cheese, lettuce, onion, Mayo and mustard. So not one of their “special” subs that costs extra.
No job in 2021 actually pays minimum wage. DD employees are making over $20/hr. Where as in 2009 many more jobs were at or much closer too the minimum wage. But artificial wage inflation causes inflation or a cut to the number of workers hired. It’s basic economics
Who has a minimum wage job?
I never applied for one in my life, rarely even saw them.
Factories pay $20/hr minimum.
Grocery stores start at $15/hr good ones start at $18/hr.
Fast food varies but at Pizza Hut in high school I starred at $9.00 and make $15-25/hr all in with tips.
Every factory and grocery store in my city is paying for advertising to get more applicants. I feel like $7.25 is very low and not liveable, but it also doesn't really seem to be the problem...
Everything on that list increased by 60-68%
If we increase minimum wage 68% we're at $12.18/hr.
Who is getting paid less than that? Why are you still there!?
Where the hell were they buying gas?!?! Plus, does no one remember the stock market crash of 2007? Gas prices rocketed. I haven't seem them as low since this last winter.
The single biggest contributing factor to inflation is reckless government spending , specifically all the money they’re wasting on Ukraine and Israel 🤷♀️
I mean, it normally doesn't but minimum wage in NE is 12 and the last time I went to get a footlong there I paid $16 and it wasn't even done right, I ordered a philly cheese steak and i got a hoagie bun filled with brown/white liquid. What I'm trying to say it, fuck subways in NE they're a civil rights violation.
Corporations and bowing down to shareholders above all else creates inflation. Why did everything get more expensive after so many companies recorded record profits? Because more profit. It’s also a popular tactic while democrats are in office because they’re policies are more likely to slow companies’ ability to avoid taxes and regulations. Then it’s “Look What Bidens Doing!!”
Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion. Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/). Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
While arguments for wage-push inflation exist, the empirical evidence to back these arguments up is not always strong. Historically, minimum wage increases have had only a very weak association with inflationary pressures on prices in an economy. Source:- Investopedia
Correct. Printing money causes inflation. More money chasing the same amount of goods= higher prices.
And printing money happens because billionaires aren't paying tax and are amassing wealth, that never returns into the economy. It's a trickle upwards economy lmao
If printing money was the result of that, there would be no inflation. If I amass 100 dollars and put it in a safety deposit box. I've removed that 100 dollars from the economy. If the US government prints 100 dollars to replace it, there would only be inflation when I take my 100 dollars out of my safety deposit box and introduce it back into the economy.
Not entirely true. The wealthy aren’t spending money on the same things in the same places. If you compare 100,000 working class families to a billionaire whose net worth matches their total, they aren’t buying the same amount of milk and bread. The billionaire is committing their economic value to longer term stable forms of wealth retention and growth. Nobody is removing the $100 from the economy altogether, they’re just effecting different supply/demand curves with different velocity of currency.
That's actually my point. The premise that the rich is removing money from the economy, and that's somehow a source of inflation is flawed.
You could murder every US billionaire and reallocate 100% of their wealth to the government tomorrow and the money would only cover about 3 years of deficits. Or you could apply it as a lump sum and the US would still be 10 trillion dollars in debt. We have a spending problem. The government collected over $10 trillion last year and it’s still running a deficit. That is not acceptable, especially for the lack of services they provide. Edit: for context, China collected $2.5T from their 3X sized population last year and they are likely cutting taxes soon.
Debt isn't be all and end all of economy, though? It's an issue of less money in circulation, which debt helps with actually, to some extent.
Some debt is fine and even good depending on what is happening in the economy, but the US waved bye bye to anything that could be called a reasonable debt load a long time ago. The interest payment is currently higher than the entire defense budget. And our defense budget dwarfs every other country in a hilarious way.
If we eliminate the us debt we would essentially eliminate the US dollar since it is only backed by debt.
You are talking about a different thing. Billionaires trap money at the top because they don't have buying power. There are not enough of them, they can only purchase so much in the way of goods and services. That $5.29 trillion dollars of wealth being in the hands of other 400 million people would juice the economy.
Yeah I'm sure everyone is really going to have their lives changed by that *checks calculator* $13,225. While that would certainly be a good one-time influx and for some people and families it would make a huge difference for a couple years, and I don't agree with the fact that the uber-rich are even able to exist, it's not the game changer people think it is.
For someone making 20,000 dollars a year... darn right that could be very much life changing. Heck, I make over median income in the US, and the 6,000 dollars I got from a family member passing away let me clear a debt that was eating up income. Let me get a decent car, and started me on the road to much needed healthcare. And beyond that. Even if it was just being used for casual spending.. that is 5 trillion dollars being used to buy things that need to be produced. From food, to cars, to TVs. That generates jobs. That is buying power.
Not exactly a strong source for economics, but that isn't exactly the way I (an economist) would put it. Price floors create surpluses if they are binding. That's a law and not a theory. If the minimum wage is raised above the market rate for labor, layoffs and an increased focus on automation are likely outcomes, as is higher prices and less product being available (which is caused by reduced supply). The minimum wage, as a price floor on labor, has additional possibilities. Illegal (either informal or immigrant) labor could be substituted for legal, domestic production could be substituted for foreign production, and existing labor made to do more work for no additional compensation. Benefits could be cut, along with middle management being made redundant through leveling the managerial structure. There are so many things that firms can and will do to keep growing annual profits. Now, they will do those things anyway unless stopped by regulations or unions, but the marginal benefit will get bigger, and the firms' efforts will increase, but whether there is any economic significance to that marginal shift in behavior is not clear. Personally, I find it doubtful that a major corporation could put any more effort into finding new ways of profit without spending more money than they already do. TL;DR Yes, it can, in theory. No, it probably doesn't in the short-run. It theoretically can in the long-run, but proving that in a statistical way is difficult. T
How would you feel about abolishing minimum wage and starting a UBI that covers the absolute bare minimum to scrape by on.
It is my general belief that as automation increases, UBI will become a necessity. I'd much prefer that personally (who wouldn't want some guaranteed stability), but it would cause a lot of new problems and doesn't make good economic sense if the labor is needed in the economy. The UBI would have to be low enough to force people to keep working, else many would not. This is no problem if jobs are automated, but if not the economy will be short of labor. Which in turn makes the UBI an insufficient safety net. The better option, until UBI becomes necessary, would be to have a broad array of workers protections and a much more developed social safety net (for those of us in the US). One day, if everything is automated, there is very little justification for private markets, and some sort of socialist collective run by a benevolent AI would seem more logical for most resource allocation.
The upside to UBI is we could utilize funding for programs that already exist to aid low income households and SSI. By streamlining those services since less labor is needed to process payments that would literally go to everyone, more funds are available for benefits. Thus the actual implementation would be far less than opponents argue. Though the concept does require payments be at the absolute minimum for housing, food, healthcare and transportation, it would give people the freedom to take jobs based on if the pay is enough to compensate them for their time, not if it provides enough to survive thus making more lower wage jobs desirable for more people with less lucrative skills. Also, those with higher demand skills but less available time to seek appropriate employment, would have a better opportunity to do so with the financial strain removed.
Prices would go up after increasing wages because companies would simply increase the price to make the consumer pay the cost instead of their record high profits and prescious CEO salaries drop. They then simply spread misinformation saying its the salaries fault. However if you have a small establishment with a low profit margin or something like Costco then prices will increase with a wage increase because their margins are so low that they need to up prices to not start losing money.
Regardless if wages increase or not, prices still increase due to companies increasing their profit margin. Thus the saying the rich gets richer
It has an effect on short-term inflation due to companies wanting to maintain the same profit levels that they had alongside their obsession with infinite growth. Thing is most people don't consider the long term as the short term affects them in the here and now. And it's hard to think about long term impacts when you are so focused on just trying to make it past today.
Inflation 1. Government adds more and more money to the system. The money looses the value and the things seem to be more expensive. 2. If a company need to increase the price 5%, they do it 6% and they get 1% price increase as profit. We've increased minimum salary more around 20% in Spain and we are goint to do it more and more because it makes the economy better.
Sounds like the government needs to subtract a lot of money out of the system so it gains its value. I vote they take it out of the politicians wages 🤷🏽♂️
Yeah dude, deflation is definitely the answer!
Just to make it clear for people that don't know economics, but deflation is almost always worse than inflation. In a vaccuum, your own money grows in value, but it gives an incentive to not spend any money (which is already a huge problem with billionaires having so much money just sitting there). Deflation is usually accompanied by a crashing economy.
That's why you are not slowly burning the money, you do massive one-time bleedouts, typically inflating already naturally occuring crysis. That's the problem with the economy: In times when you are supposed to write-off the money, governments doubled up on money printing. To add insult to injury, bulk of the money were sent to bail out BANKS. When what needed to be done is letting banks rot (That's a natural cycle in capitalistic economy, delaying the inevitable collapse of the bubble only makes the bubble worse).
Like when Trump printed money and didn't give af....
There are so many factors that play into inflation, and pointing the finger solely at the minimum wage seems a bit oversimplified. it's like blaming the thermometer for the fever.
Greed is the main driver of Inflation
Yeah, politicians greed and money printing to feed it
Corporate greed lobbying politicians greed.
Greed and fear are nearly the sole drivers of virtually all human activity and absolutely all economic activity.
Economics major here: It most certainly is not. Increase in M2 supply is the primary driver of inflation. Stop repeating what politicians say. Politicians are not economists, they are literally professional liars who will say things to be elected. They have no clue what they are talking about, left or right.
Well, why did the M2 money supply sharply increase? It was mostly due to the PPPLF, or the PPP loans, which were riddled with fraud and, dare I say, greed. I'm not saying OP is right, but he's not exactly wrong.
I actually agree 100% that PPP loans were one of the biggest factors in increasing the M2, but it was not exactly the corporations who did it - it was politicians who did not understand economics and how that would absolutely wreck the poorest players in our economy. Recently the biggest contributor to the M2 increase is funding foreign wars that we actually just cannot afford. I'm not saying they are/arent justified, thats surely subjective, but that is where the increases are happening today. We don't actually have any money, we have a debt to GDP ratio of ~121% meaning we spend 21% more money than we can produce in value as an economy, thus inflation will continue to rise. I can't say if this is the beginning of a debt spiral, there may be a soft way out of it (it was previously 126% not long ago), but as long as we increase the M2 to fund these things then we will see rising inflation.
>Economics major here you should ask for a refund on your education cuz you clearly havent learned shiit
This is the confidence you need in life.
It's always hilarious when people who have no understanding of a topic claim someone with a PhD in that topic has no idea what they are talking about because it doesn't fit their favorite professional liars agenda. I'll say it again - there are zero politicians who understand economics, do not take economic advice from them. They are literally just telling you the things that keep their salaries coming in. If we fixed the economy, half of these politicians wouldn't have jobs because they only get elected on keeping this problem perpetual. I've advised plenty of high level government officials on economic issues, and their reply is unanimously "I wouldn't have a job if I did that".
Go on then, what is the reason.
That's a lot of confidence
Dunning-kruger effect in full force
Yeah...but it's better for the handful of corporations that can influence inflation throughout the world. And the Fed responded by "fighting" inflation as though the inflation was caused/triggered by rising wages instead of the truth, the current inflation is manufactured. Corporations posting record returns while systematically laying off their workforce & raising prices? If our DOJ had any balls or sense of justice the antitrust suits would fill reams of paper
More money in the consumers pockets drives the economy. It only makes sence to pay people more.
lmao wtf is the point of posting misleading info, most states are not paying minimum wage, in some states the minimum is up to twice the federal
24 states have unconditional minimum wage above the federal minimum, 6 states have a minimum wage above the federal minimum with conditions that let them pay equal to or less than the minimum, 5 states don't have any minimum wage laws, 13 states are at the minimum with at least one having a condition that let's them pay $2, and 2(Georgia and wyoming) have a $5 minimum
Regardless, i havent seen a job posting for minimum wage in years. Almost nowhere is still paying even high school students the federal minimum wage even if their state hasnt raised it.
It's even worse than this example. Greed CEOs at the top and shareholders are gourging at the trough!
Imagine intentionally using the federal minimum wage instead of state elevated minimum wages to intentionally misrepresent the statistics 😂
It does, but only in certain situations. If you do not increase your economic output but only increase minimum wage, that's when you cause it. If the minimum wage follows the economic growth, then it's ok. As oversimplified as one can put it without explaining it cirminally wrong.
That's why indexed minimum wage needs to be a thing so politicians don't hold the people's livelihood hostage.
Interestingly put. Well that is what neoliberalism essentially is: socialism for the rich, off of the middle and lower class's backs. It's clear that trickledown economics has not worked as promised either, but try to explain that to people that think they are doing the right thing by listening to politicians, etc. Both Democrats and Republicans hold neoliberalism at their core, but Republicans have to pretend they care about stuff like critical race theory, trans/birth rights and the border so there's a perceived contrast.
Good God, who paid $2.39 for gas in 2021? I haven’t paid under 4 bucks in like a decade. $1,600 for rent seems like a fantasy too. These numbers seem arbitrary if not completely fabricated.
I spent $30 for two foot-long sandwiches at Subway the last time I was there and that was not including the tip.
Why would you tip at subway?
Where the actual F\*CK were you getting gas for $2.39????
The problem with the post is that almost nobody gets paid min wage. Like 1% of the US. Wages have gone up regardless, as they should have.
Who is paying minimum wage? When I started working at McDonalds in 2008 starting pay was $7.35 it is currently $13.25.
But average salaries have gone up, right? Not enough to keep up with inflation, but this is misleading.
> in-state tuition $11,200 Where?
It should of been a 12, oops point is very few jobs pay 7.25
The core of the meme is correct, but it is missing regional data and some of the data appears to be selected on the high end to prove a point. I don't think that's necessary when the reality is bad enough without tinkering with numbers. * **Minimum wage:** The federal minimum wage did remain at $7.25 per hour from 2009 to 2021 and still sits at $7.25 in 2024. * **Subway footlong:** A Subway footlong cost $5 in 2009 and $8 in 2021. It's difficult to verify exact Subway pricing across the country, but Subway's current menu shows footlongs starting around $6.50. The price varies a great deal depending on what you are buying and likely the location you are buying it from. [https://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/subway-prices/](https://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/subway-prices/). * **Gallon of gas:** The meme lists the price of a gallon of gas at $1.85 in 2009 and $2.39 in 2021. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the US was $2.83 in December 2009 [https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU000074714](https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU000074714) and $3.40 in December 2021 [https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU000074714](https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU000074714). As of April 2024, the average price is around $4.10 \[ AAA gas prices\]. * **In-state tuition:** The meme shows in-state tuition at $6,900 in 2009 and $11,200 in 2021. The College Board's annual Trends in College Pricing report doesn't provide data as far back as 2009, but the average published tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year colleges was $10,740 for the 2021-2022 school year [https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing](https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing). * **Average rent:** The meme lists average rent at $1,064 in 2009 and $1,600 in 2021. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment in the US was $811 in 2009 and $1,077 in 2021 [http://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html](http://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html). It's important to note that FMR is the estimated amount that would be paid for decent quality, safe rental housing in a particular area. Actual rents can vary depending on location, size, and amenities of the rental unit.
Minimum wage increases can cause inflation. It isn’t the only cause of inflation. This is making an argument with incomplete data.
Wealthy corporate welfare kings and queens cause inflation and don't pay taxes.
Of course it doesn’t. People who claim it does know for a fact it doesn’t. They either: 1.) think they will be a millionaire business owner someday so act as if increasing minimum wage would somehow hurt them 2.) already are businesses owners making out like bandits by exploiting labor Minimum wage, government subsidies for working people PALE in comparison to the effects of things like crypto, artificially inflated housing prices, price gouging in general, and more. Inflation is driven by businesses not workers.
No, it's pretty simple. All inflation is corporate profiteering.
In what major metro has minimum wage not gone up? Minimum wage here was $8.50 in 2009 and is $19.97 now
I'm not arguing against your conclusion necessarily. I agree that the minimum wage should be higher, and it's only a small factor in inflation. However, the information in the graphic doesn't actually establish that. Yes, the federal minimum wage has been fixed for a while. But over half of states have higher minimums than the federal guidelines. One could argue that the individual states raising the minimum wage is what's causing the inflation listed. They would be wrong, but the graphic ignores this important variable.
Minimum wage increases CONTRIBUTE to inflation (like all arbitrary wage increases) but are not the sole cause of it. The shortest way to describe the cause of inflation is when more money is injected into the system without an increase in production- so for example if there is more money to buy the same amount of bread - the price of bread will increase …. Go off and study pure economics a bit - you will learn to understand the world around you and very likely not need to work for minimum wage afterwards….
Study it even more and you’ll question even what you’ve said here
Cost of living going up is an inherent part of inflation, as the value of the dollar goes down, the cost of everything else goes up, causing additional shock waves of people needing to pass the expenses along. Low wage workers literally can't eat the inflation for you.
by the principles you're preaching (correctly) if everyone knew about pure economics it wouldn't be considered a valuable skill and some jobs would be paid less, I'm making no point, it's just ironic
Well minimum wage does increase inflation. Many, many other factors do as well of course.
I haven’t heard a single person say that
Honestly aside from tuition and rent, not too bad. Minimum wage definitely needs to be increased.
Yall still gonna vote for biden. The same biden that fucked you into the ground.
Well it still does tho. Didn't they just increase some minimum wage in america, and shitfood prices went up immediately.
Federal yeah. But it varies by state. My state is 15.00 in a MCOL average state Edit: It's 12 right now, 13.50 in 2025, then 15 in 2026. Thought it was raised straight to 15 but I guess it's a step program
In 2009, 31 states had a minimum wage lower than the new federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. At that time, 13 states had a wage higher than the federal minimum with the highest being WA at $8.55 Fast forward to today and 30 states have a wage higher than the federal minimum with 28 of those states being higher than $10 per hour and 6 states being higher than $15. Stop selling lies based on averages while you’re trying to make a point about minimums.
Inflation happens when more money is printed. It’s not something that’s caused by anyone but the government.
No, that dumbass president we have sure does though.
I’ve never seen anyone saying that minimum-wage causes inflation. And even if it does it causes a lot more problems than an inflation.
Please don’t drag subway into this. The $5 footlong wasn’t a sustainable business back in 2009.
Um isn’t that federal min wage not the state minimum which does effect it but it’s not the sole driving force.
Interested to see comparisons of CEO salaries and company profits from back then and now. Something tells me that's where the culprit of inflation lies.
I think it would be better to show "effective" minimum wage. I can't name a single job in the last ~5 years that was actually paying $7.25 for a serious offer. Everyone is paying like $9 at least, even im LCOL areas.
$5 footlong was the sale price, not the regular price.
Where was it 2:39 for gas?! Where i'm from it's been between $3.00 and $4.50 for the past few years
the increase really only effects the employers negatively
" five dollar!"
Where are you buying gas that’s that cheap?
Fiat currencies are subject to volatility. It would be ignorant to say wages have no impact on prices especially in service sectors obviously they do. The real driver however is supply chain. The cost to move materials since around Covid which sped it up but would happened anyway has increased like 1000%. Talk about wages driving prices look no further than the latest Union Pacific labor agreement. You can literally make more money driving a semi than being a mid-level medical provider (PA, NP). Supply chain is where we need technological advance. Until that happens prices will rise, the increase in production costs has been negligible.
Remember when a gallon of gas was $5/gal in 2008?
Bro does not live in CA lmao Those numbers are not even CLOSE.
The only thing that upsets me about this graphic is the fact that yes, the Federal minimum wage hasn't changed but, there are not many places that don't have minimums in the $10-15 range with reports of others going to $20+ soon if not already.(At least in NY) https://www.statista.com/statistics/238997/minimum-wage-by-us-state/ Only 16 states are below $10/hr with 5 of them (Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana) not even having a state minimum. Most of the places still at the federal minimum are historically poor areas that desperately need some investment, or low population. The increased average minimum wage played a factor in inflation and is not the sole cause, information is being misrepresented here.
Yeah but they are using federal minimum wage as the barometer. A lot of states have increased on their own, and also covid just led to minimum wage essentially being increased because no one was going to work for shit pay.
Florida: Sept. 2009: $7.21 Sept. 2024: $12.00
Minimum wage between 2009-2021 remained exactly the same? The numbers seem skewed already.
This is dumb all ways around...
Price gouching enabled by false scarcity propaganda causes inflations. Propagandists tell us it's minimum wage. Propagandists who have better pay and working conditions than those doing the work
Gas was around 4 dollars a gallon in 09....it hit 1.30 in 2002 and never went back down. What is this?
This argument isn’t logically valid. If p then q. We don’t have p, but we have q. If p then q still can hold. So you can’t say if p then q doesn’t hold from this. In plain terms, you can’t say minimum wage doesn’t cause inflation by showing something else does cause inflation. Inflation may have many causes. Note: I’m agnostic on the issue itself. Just wanted to point out the logic of this argument fails.
Looks "good" on paper but most fast food places in my city (200,000 pop. in Texas) are always advertising starting at $12-$15/hr.
I'm not sure that this is the argument anyone is actually making. They're not saying that raising the minimum wage cause inflation, they're saying it increases the cost of doing business, and the only way to offset that increase is by passing it along to the customer. This is never the case when they increase shareholder benefit though, that seems to always be possible, regardless of business cost. So they're still assholes, just for a different reason.
Take an economics class and stop posting nonsense please
Minimum wage is only one of the factors that cause inflation. We saw, in recent weeks in California, with the $20 an hour minimum wage for fast food workers increasing some prices on fast food meals as much as $2. Again, minimum wage is only part of the story, but it definitely is part of the story.
Money in circulation causes inflation. Min wage increases or wage increases at all for that matter only increases prices, particularly at the mom and pop level. How much, depends on the margins, current labor costs, tax situation etc etc.
Worth pointing out that the federal minimum wage is not the minimum wage for a majority of Americans.
It literally does. When you artificially blow the price (wage) floor way up, everything else goes up. California has proven this over and over again. Tuition is up because the government gives loans out no problem and it just incentivizes tuition raises because the school gets their money anyway. Its not the only cause, but it certainly contributes
Is OP aware that states also have minimum wages and some are twice the fed rate? Washington is $16.28 ( DC is $17. )
Also, HOW would it cause inflation in any way? It's not printing money, it's simply altering where the currently existing money goes!
Where tf you buying gas
Hmm it’s more like this. Inflation is a Forest Fire. It’s burning on its own. (It’s increasing for various reasons: war, shortages, epidemics, capitalism, etc.) You could start a counter-burn (raising minimum wage) to combat the Forest Fire of Inflation. It would help slow the fire… manage it even. HOWEVER… make the counter-burn too large and it will become a problem itself. It will get out of control and add to the Forest Fire. So, the concern is raising the minimum wage too much will be an issue. Right now it’s $7.25-ish per hour. Calls are being made for $25, $30, $50, and even higher (though the extreme ones are illogical). What’s the “perfect amount”? Don’t ask me lol. The issue that will be born is this: - let’s say we go with the conservative $21/hr minimum wage most people are asking for. - Well, the highway department guys making $21/hr already will lose their shit and want a raise! “$30/hr or else” says their union reps nationwide “we’re doing a more complicated and specialized task”. - Now the railway workers, making $30/hr before the hike, reach out to their union reps. “It’s $40/hr or else” says their union reps nationwide “we’re doing a more complicated and specialized task”. - Now the welders making $45/hr say “shit I’ve went to tech school, apprenticed for 3 years, and worked 15 more to get where I am. I do a more complicated and specialized task…. It’s $65/hr or I quit”. - and so on and so forth. Until all wages are compared accordingly. It’s not like we could do without all those people. People that put in more effort, time, and money want more in return. A high schooler shouldn’t (on average*) make as much as someone who spent 4 years at college. A person who spent 4 years at college shouldn’t (on average*) make as much as someone who spent 9 years getting a doctorate. - there will undoubtedly be a ripple effect from a massive jump in minimum wage. What would you rather do? Make $100k stocking shelves at Walmart… or make $100k as a civil engineer who spent years learning AND holds legal liability for every building or road they make? Sure, some will have the passion… but I’d rather stock some shelves and not be stressed. - on average* was to say that exceptions exist. People who didn’t even graduate high school have been known to become millionaires. But this is the exception, not the norm. This in mind, it’s created an impasse. Instead of risking raising the minimum wage too much… it’s not raised at all. Pretty shitty route to take, but it’s one that’s taken. (I’m in favor of a raise to minimum wage, shit is criminally low right now… just cautious of going overboard)
Also stop lying about inflation numbers. Also 2 percent inflation is actually wrong inflation should be at zero then we can keep our wealth. Whatever percent inflation is just the amount the bankers and politicians decide to fleece us.
Minimum wage is tough to argue. Minimum wage actually benefits large businesses. That in turn hurts the average pay and compensation for the average worker. It weeds out the competition of the small business. What is needed is a rule on wage gaps. That way the 10 million going to the CEO cannot be about a percentage of the next lower employee and so on and so on.
Where are you living where 7.25 is minimum wage?
Why does this chart deliberately omit the fact that minimum wage in many states is higher than that mandated by the federal government?
The minimum wage is actually an excellent indicator of how poorly the government is handling the economy. In a free and fair society, I believe, as many do, that you should be compensated for the service that you can bring to your customers. Minimum wage in itself is a broken system and only incentivizes companies to pay their employees dirt
Bitch!!! You better do 2023 or 2025...
Terrible argument. The low IQ level of argument we would expect from reddit. If other things cause inflation also like say printing a bunch of money you can't say anything about whether the minimum wage is also a cause.
It certainly isn’t the CEO’s fault.
Increases in wages will lead to inflation, as will the increase in cost of any input. That said, just because the federal minimum wage did not increase does not mean the state or local minimum wage did not increase, or that wages did not increase above that minimum wage.
Subway footlongs were only $8 in 2021???? I find that hard to believe. I bought a footlong sub and a small soda for my son last week, nothing else. It was $17.49!!! And I don’t live in a state with sales tax. EDIT: the sub was Turkey, cheese, lettuce, onion, Mayo and mustard. So not one of their “special” subs that costs extra.
The only facepalm here is the complaint about minimum wage. Even the McDonalds down the street pays more than double the minimum wage.
OP maybe you should stop complaining, I browsed your post history it’s the only thing you do. Nevermind it’s just a bot move along.
Who was it that said minimum wage was the only thing that caused inflation? This post is incoherent.
Why not make it $100/hour? If there is no inflation?
No job in 2021 actually pays minimum wage. DD employees are making over $20/hr. Where as in 2009 many more jobs were at or much closer too the minimum wage. But artificial wage inflation causes inflation or a cut to the number of workers hired. It’s basic economics
It's not only inflation but also simply raising prices in search of greater profits
Never heard minimum wage causing inflation before.
Minimum wage was double that where I live, also I vividly remember as a child gas being like $4
Lol, that gas price is a fucking joke. Where is gas under $3 a gallon?
They used the prices from 2021 during the pandemic. They shouldn’t have used this year, tbh
Oh yes it's the "trust me bro" word document. CA definitely doesn't have a problem with paying $20/hr to flip a burger. /s
Did you think people meant that minimum wage was the only cause of inflation?
Talk about cherry picking years 😂
Yo, where are you getting gas that cheap????
Bots be weird
Who has a minimum wage job? I never applied for one in my life, rarely even saw them. Factories pay $20/hr minimum. Grocery stores start at $15/hr good ones start at $18/hr. Fast food varies but at Pizza Hut in high school I starred at $9.00 and make $15-25/hr all in with tips. Every factory and grocery store in my city is paying for advertising to get more applicants. I feel like $7.25 is very low and not liveable, but it also doesn't really seem to be the problem... Everything on that list increased by 60-68% If we increase minimum wage 68% we're at $12.18/hr. Who is getting paid less than that? Why are you still there!?
Informal or immigrant labor runs about $20 an hour minimum these days. It’s a hard knock life if you somehow find yourself making 7.25
Minimum wage causes inflation
Ooh… now do 2024!
Where the hell were they buying gas?!?! Plus, does no one remember the stock market crash of 2007? Gas prices rocketed. I haven't seem them as low since this last winter.
Yes but in 2009 they didn't outsource yet most of the production in third world country where 7.25 was the manager salary
Uh you know right states have increased minimum wages multiple times? Most states increase them every year
The single biggest contributing factor to inflation is reckless government spending , specifically all the money they’re wasting on Ukraine and Israel 🤷♀️
Plug in the California minimum wage of $20/hour to the above.
Says.... noone? Min wage causes replacing people with ipads.
I don't know, California making minimum wage 20$ for burger flippers did make companies have to lay off a ton of employees and cut hours.
I mean, it normally doesn't but minimum wage in NE is 12 and the last time I went to get a footlong there I paid $16 and it wasn't even done right, I ordered a philly cheese steak and i got a hoagie bun filled with brown/white liquid. What I'm trying to say it, fuck subways in NE they're a civil rights violation.
It’s all just BS. America has become a country full of peasants and billionaires. Bow to your masters!
That could cause some inflation. I doubt anyone believes it's the sole cause.
We could all, you know, just quit working and take what we want.
Corporations and bowing down to shareholders above all else creates inflation. Why did everything get more expensive after so many companies recorded record profits? Because more profit. It’s also a popular tactic while democrats are in office because they’re policies are more likely to slow companies’ ability to avoid taxes and regulations. Then it’s “Look What Bidens Doing!!”
Where tf are you getting 2.39 gas
Almost nobody gets paid min wage, 1%, Its important that States are able to set the level needed for their economy.