The Minimum Wage War - 1167 Words

On Saturday, June 25, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed 121 bills. Among these bills was a landmark law in the United States’ social and economic development—Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) or otherwise known as the Wages and Hours Bill. This new law created a maximum forty-four hour workweek, guaranteed â€Å"time-and-a-half† for overtime hours in certain jobs, banned oppressive child labor, and established the nation’s first minimum wage. By definition, a minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement (such as one with a labor union). Throughout the years, the minimum wage has been a central debate topic for the socioeconomic world and now in 2014, the debate has broken through the surface once†¦show more content†¦Because these workers spend all the money they make, the $35 billion in extra wages would get pumped right back into the U.S. economy (Dickinson). However, not everyone is on the bandwagon. Conservative economists point out the negative effects the wage increase could have on the economy. They see it having an effect on the demand of jobs. Businesses facing higher labor costs would raise prices, passing those higher costs on to their customers. That would lead their customers to cut back on their purchases, meaning that businesses would need fewer workers (Lowrey). Raising the minimum wage would also make hiring low-wage workers more expensive relative to other investments, like new machinery. Businesses might then reduce their use of low-wage workers and shift their spending toward other things, such as automated systems. In contrast, an article written in the New York Times by Paul Krugman states that when it comes to the minimum wage, we have a number of cases in which a state raised its own minimum wage while a neighboring state did not. If there were anything to the notion that minimum wage increases have big negative effe cts on employment, that result should show up in state-to-state comparisons. It doesn’t. A University of California, Berkeley study found Wal-Mart could finance a pay hike to $12 an hour for its nearly one million low-wage associates by boasting prices just 1.1%—at a cost to theShow MoreRelatedThe Minimum Wage War, By Barbara Ehrenreich And The Article938 Words   |  4 Pageslike these arise in both the story Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich and the article â€Å"The Minimum-Wage War† by Rolling Stone. At first glance, these writings may seem unrelated; However, the themes of minimum wage and work ethic go hand-in-hand with respect to these texts. These writings express the correlation that working a minimum wage job and having a strong work ethic does not always result in enough money to pay for the cost of living. Consequently, unskilledRead MoreThe Minimum Wage Change 1151 Words   |  5 Pagesthe topic of minimum wag e. With president Obama’s increase in the minimum wage to 10.10$ per hour people, both economists and politicians alike, have been debating whether raising the bar is a smart idea. At a time when the country the country’s inflation continues to rise at a steady pace and Americans are constantly working to feed their families, some economists know that a raise in the minimum wage would help elevate some of the difficulty. The last time the federal minimum wage was raised wasRead MoreMinimum Wage Should Be Raised For A Better Standard Of Living1636 Words   |  7 PagesVamsi Sanagala Hannah Manshel Dec 15 2014 English 1 Minimum Wage Almost 3.3 out of 76 million workers in the US receive minimum wage (Source: BLS reports). Activists for raising the minimum wage claim that the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is the reason they are living in poverty, and that the wage must be raised for a better standard of living. Many people who take on minimum wage jobs are young and work in companies that don’t carry much prestige; however, they stillRead MoreMinimum Wage vs. Slavery1407 Words   |  6 PagesSLAVERY VS. MINIMUM WAGE Le’Sean Marks English 102; Civil War Term Paper March 21, 2013 In a time like today, everyone who has ever received minimum wage could agree that it is not ideal, nor is it fair in most cases. However, to compare the brutality of minimum wage to that of slavery is preposterous! In slavery, especially the slavery that occurred in America, human beings lacked more than just proper compensation for their labor. Along with not being fairly rewarded: families were rippedRead MoreThe Effects of a Minimum Wage Law655 Words   |  3 PagesWhat are the Effects of a Minimum Wage Law? A minimum wage is the lowest amount of money per hour that the government of the country assigns employers to pay their employees. The minimum wage is based on an idea that the employers have a responsibility for their employees to live in a reasonable standard of living. The minimum wage laws have directly effect to most industries because of the potential of decreasing their budget. As a result, the minimum wage is still an issue that people researchRead MoreMinimum Wage863 Words   |  4 PagesMinimum wage is a controversial topic because everybody wants more. People want more money and some think that just increasing minimum wage can increase more money that they get. However, this is far from the truth as sometimes employers can’t pay their employers more than minimum wage. Not to mention that if the minimum wage goes up so does the price of everything else in order to adjust for the new price. So essentially increasing the wage majorly does nothing except maybe lower th e value of yourRead MoreThe Effects Of Low Income Affects The Lifestyles Of Minimum Wage Essay1450 Words   |  6 Pagesthis dissertation, describes how the impact of low income affects the lifestyles of minimum wage earners. These impacts stem from two significant factors; Smith’s (2015) theory from a psychological perspective, and Rogers’ (2014) minimum wage laws and social equality. While several areas are encompassed by these two factors, comparison of the human behavior and social groups, provides insight on how minimum wage earners are affected by each. According to Smith’s theory, indicators that are impactedRead MoreThe Minimum Wage Debacle1320 Words   |  6 PagesThe Minimum Wage Debacle â€Å"I could be easily replaced by someone tomorrow for less money.† What a dispiriting statement. I was told this from a coworker in October of last year. This coworker has worked for the same grocery store for over twenty years. His remark caused me to formulate many questions about the ethics of business. More specifically though is the question of how this can be a bigger problem than I had originally thought. I have worked many low end jobs, and have seen firstRead MoreJohn Keynes And Friedrich Hayek901 Words   |  4 Pagesdifferent times. Keynes and Hayek had opposite ideas on what created a working economy that would be successful and avoid economical depressions like that of the United States great depression and the European depressions that resulted from the two World Wars. Keynes believes that the best way to maintain a strong economy was to have government micromanage any and all aspects of the economy. He believes that in order to maintain full employment of citizens, countries must spend money to create jobs andRead MoreThe Presidential Election Made History1252 Words   |  6 Pagesthough? Some experts believe that Trump’s economic policies will increase the inflation rate. Trump’s considered spending on infrastructure will potentially lead to an enlarged employment rate and a larger money supply within the economy. If exchange wars with China and Mexico actually happen, import prices could increase, which will lead to inflation. For example, just after the election results were broadcasted, the Mexican peso plummeted 7.3% opposed to the US dollar. The United States is responsible