Answer

Annotated Bibliography

Article 1:   Gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 would be good for workers, good for      businesses, and good for the economy

Reference Source:  Zipperer, February 7, 2019

Available at: https://www.epi.org/publication/minimum-wage-testimony-feb-2019/

Summary

The article looks at the significance of minimum wage while reflecting on its impact on the living standards of the workers, businesses and economy. Increasing the minimum wage to $15 by the year 2024, as indicated in the Raise the Wage Act of 2019, is an essential corrective to already failed attempts of raising the minimum wage. The $15 minimum wage would see the translation of the country’s labor productivity into improved living standards especially for the low wage workers. On the other hand, the economic researches essentially justify the increase in minimum wage. With critics raising concerns with regards to possible reduction in the employment opportunities, the extensive economic research still indicates that the increase would work as planned before.

Article 2: Effects of the $15 Minimum Wage in Seattle

Reference Source: Inside Wharton PPI, January 30, 2018

Available at:  https://publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/live/news/2303-effects-of-the-15-minimum-wage-in-seattle/for-students/blog/news.php

Summary

In the year 2015, the article clearly states that Seattle legislators signed one of the significant bills that fostered an increase in the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Since the approval, two major studies were extracted from the incident with one focusing on the significant effects of the act while the remaining one focused on the rigidity of the labor market. On the basis of the first study, the increase is viewed from the positive side in terms of giving room to the low skilled workers to have an increased access to particular goods such as education, food and healthcare. However, the article still sparks some doubts with regards to what such an increase may do to the cost of production in some of the companies and the scale of employability.