The Minimum Wage

Since 2009, the national minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour for most occupations in the private sector. Many of those who support an increase in the minimum wage believe this is one way the government could possibly reduce poverty, while its opponents believe that it creates unemployment and hurts low-skilled workers. The following items address the idea of raising the minimum wage from the current federal minimum of $7.25 per hour.
1) Describe who the suppliers and demanders are in the labor market. Is a government-mandated minimum wage a price floor or ceiling? Discuss the effect of raising the minimum wage from a supply and demand standpoint, making sure to address the concept of surplus or shortage, and specify what that shortage or surplus is most commonly called in economic terms.
2) Raising the minimum wage will also affect the labor costs of businesses. What is going to happen to the prices these businesses charge for their products? And who is going to be most affected by these price changes, those with low incomes or those with high incomes?
3) Discuss any potential changes in the incentives for low-skilled workers – those who keep their jobs and their hours – to increase their human capital when the minimum wage increases. What about those who lose their jobs or never get hired? Discuss the incentives for employers to substitute capital inputs (technology and automation) for labor.
4) What might be an unintended impact on government spending on entitlements such as welfare, food stamps, and unemployment compensation because of the changes in the minimum wage and its impact on unemployment and underemployment?
5) Do advocates of a minimum wage law believe that workers should be paid based on their output (i.e., performance) or on their level of need? What do opponents of the minimum wage law believe workers’ wages should be based on? Which one is sustainable and why?
For the sake of comparison, how should students be graded in class, based on their performance or level of need?
6) Advocates of a minimum wage often believe that employers would “exploit” or “take advantage” of their workers if there were no minimum wage. How would you know if employers are “taking advantage” of their workers if there were no minimum wage? What simple thing could the employee do if they believed they were being exploited?
7) What percentage of American workers get paid above minimum wage? In general, why do such workers get paid more than the government-mandated minimum wage if employers are supposedly so greedy?
8) Compare and contrast some of the information contained in the three videos:
Obama: “Raise Minimum Wage to $9 an Hour” – SOTU 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhho01eL4C8
How the Minimum Wage Creates Unemployment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbuJYhX3prc – Note: this video uses an example of a $5 minimum wage as an illustration only. The same exact point could be made with a minimum wage of $7.25, $9, $12.37, or any other amount, so please do not get hung up on the $5 amount. The point is whether or not the government ought to dictate the wages of a private transaction between a willing employee and employer.
We the Internet TV: Pledge for $15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvixY6yLQns
Describe the main points of each video. Which one or two videos do you agree with more from an economic perspective and why? Be specific
9) Based on your previous responses, do you believe that the minimum wage should be raised, lowered, remain as it currently is, or be altogether eliminated? If you think there should be a minimum wage, how would you arrive at the specific wage? You need to give a thorough reason for your answer.
10) Who should get to decide how much a worker gets paid, the worker and their employer or a politician? WHY?