The U.S. recession officially ended in 2009. How are liking the recovery so far? Me neither! The recovery has been sluggish to say the least. Many remain unemployed or under-employed and most people I know don't have two nickels to rub together and many haven't had a raise in years.
The problem is most of the policies that pulled the economy out of the recession were too limited and benefited a small sliver of the population--mainly the very wealthy and large corporations. The long-term problem has not been addressed--the lack of consumer demand.
Businesses Are unable to sell as much as they can because no one except the rich have the money to buy everything they need--and much of their wealth goes to savings anyway. Besides, there aren't enough rich people to create enough of a demand spike to fuel a more powerful economy. But there is a fix for that.
Raise the minimum wage to $15/hour.
Maybe not all at once; but do it! The nation is awash with jobs paying sub-subsistence wages, so just from a humanitarian standpoint, it makes sense to essentially double the current federal minimum wage. The economic benefits would be enormous.
People would finally have money in their pocket to go out and buy the things they need, which would boost overall demand. Businesses large and small would start growing again since there will be more money in motion from more people. Raising the minimum wage also raises the floor on other wages, providing an income lift the economy hasn't seen since the mid 90s.
Of course there are objections. Many say that raising the minimum wage will cause businesses to fire workers because they can no longer afford to pay them the higher rate. That seems to make sense, but it's just not true according to the research. As this set of studies shows, areas in the country that have raised their minimums have prospered more than adjacent areas that kept the same low rate. Maybe it's because business picked up so much in the higher rate areas that they could easily afford to pay their current workers more and even hire additional staff to address burgeoning demand.
Raising the minimum wage would also wean companies like Wal-Mart off the public dole. U.S. taxpayers subsidize the low wages paid by retailers and other minimum-wage businesses through the federal food stamp and Medicaid programs. What if these businesses had to pay workers enough that they could support themselves and no longer qualify for safety net benefits? Wouldn't that be a nice way to shrink government spending a little?
In a society where the spoils of our economic system are tilted disproportionately to the well-off, why not pass a measure that will benefit millions of people who really need it while igniting the type of recovery this nation really needs?
RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE TO $15!
The problem is most of the policies that pulled the economy out of the recession were too limited and benefited a small sliver of the population--mainly the very wealthy and large corporations. The long-term problem has not been addressed--the lack of consumer demand.
Businesses Are unable to sell as much as they can because no one except the rich have the money to buy everything they need--and much of their wealth goes to savings anyway. Besides, there aren't enough rich people to create enough of a demand spike to fuel a more powerful economy. But there is a fix for that.
Raise the minimum wage to $15/hour.
Maybe not all at once; but do it! The nation is awash with jobs paying sub-subsistence wages, so just from a humanitarian standpoint, it makes sense to essentially double the current federal minimum wage. The economic benefits would be enormous.
People would finally have money in their pocket to go out and buy the things they need, which would boost overall demand. Businesses large and small would start growing again since there will be more money in motion from more people. Raising the minimum wage also raises the floor on other wages, providing an income lift the economy hasn't seen since the mid 90s.
Of course there are objections. Many say that raising the minimum wage will cause businesses to fire workers because they can no longer afford to pay them the higher rate. That seems to make sense, but it's just not true according to the research. As this set of studies shows, areas in the country that have raised their minimums have prospered more than adjacent areas that kept the same low rate. Maybe it's because business picked up so much in the higher rate areas that they could easily afford to pay their current workers more and even hire additional staff to address burgeoning demand.
Raising the minimum wage would also wean companies like Wal-Mart off the public dole. U.S. taxpayers subsidize the low wages paid by retailers and other minimum-wage businesses through the federal food stamp and Medicaid programs. What if these businesses had to pay workers enough that they could support themselves and no longer qualify for safety net benefits? Wouldn't that be a nice way to shrink government spending a little?
In a society where the spoils of our economic system are tilted disproportionately to the well-off, why not pass a measure that will benefit millions of people who really need it while igniting the type of recovery this nation really needs?
RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE TO $15!
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