NYcarbineer
Diamond Member
Yes, it will have to create a chain reaction of salary increases, but companies that don't have the cash flow to handle that (and there will be many) will have to compress its work force (and/or reduce available hours) and institute other cost-cutting measures.You and the liberals are smoking crack if you all think it will set off a chain reaction of salary increases, can't squeeze blood out of a turnip...it is trickle up poor...
Those who back the increase say it will put more money in consumers hands, which in turn will cause them to spend more, which will (theoretically) put money in the hands of the employers who are having to pay more. What they don't understand is that this won't happen overnight, and low-margin businesses are going to have to react by cutting those jobs and hours.
I did see one study that says that if the increase is not done too quickly it can effectively be absorbed over time, and that was excellent news. And none of the plans I've seen call for an immediate jump to $15, although I suspect most of the minimum wage workers who are screaming for it don't realize that.
The wild card here is automation. Otherwise, the increase is coming, gang, and businesses know it.
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Many large American corps are already raising their lower wages as are many states and localities. The cost of living varies widely across the country which is why the min wage should be a state and local issue ... not a federal one.
WalMart's minimum wage is now $9/hr and will rise a buck in 2016. Their profits have fallen as a result, as has their stock value.
Target, Costco, Ikea, McD's and a slew of America's largest employers have reacted to market forces by raising the wages of their low earners without gov't meddling.
Automation will continue to make inroads into the low skill/low wage job market, probably at an accelerated pace.
That is not the main reason Walmart's profits have fallen.
This is:
Obama's effect on the economy.
English please.