Call for a higher federal minimum wage is a war on low-cost areas by crowded high-cost parts of the U.S.?

by philg

The local (suburban Boston) McDonald’s restaurants are begging for job applicants with prominent signs promising $12/hour in starting pay. As this is substantially above both the state ($9/hour) and Federal ($7.25) minimum wages it would appear that at least Eastern Massachusetts is effectively operating without a statutory minimum wage (like a bunch of countries). Yet people here are passionate supporters of anything proposed by Hillary Clinton, including a $12/hour minimum wage (this politician seems to have flip-flopped on the exact amount that central planners in D.C. would impose via regulation). Why the passion for a minimum wage that would have no effect here? I’m wondering if the answer is competitive advantage. New England has suffered a lot of job losses from factories moving to lower-wage union-rejecting areas in the Carolinas. If we can get central planners in Washington to make it more expensive to do business in the South and in rural parts of the U.S., won’t that boost the economy here in a crowded urban area?

5 thoughts on “Call for a higher federal minimum wage is a war on low-cost areas by crowded high-cost parts of the U.S.?”

  2. I always thought it was because union pay raises or other rates, were set in relation to the minimum wage. Thus if the minimum wage goes up, so does the amount that an employee in a union gets at his or her job.

  3. It’s unlikely that your Millionaires for Obama would want to see factories built in their neighborhoods.

  4. The minimum wage for adults must be set higher than the total tax payer subsidized cost of employing a “minimum wage” employee. That’s probably well over $20 an hour nation wide. It can be lower for teens.

    If we are to have “free” emergency room services, free schooling for kids, and SNAP, and tolerated illegal immigrants, then we need a minimum wage reflective of the total costs. Otherwise employer profits at minimum wage represent wealth transfer from tax payers.

  5. Since we have a minimum wage, let’s have two tracks. $15 for citizens and $50 for non-citizens. We can really help immigrants get rich.

Comments are closed.