Minimum Wage Benefits

The topic of minimum wage has been an issue of vast controversy since first being introduced in the Fair Standards Labor Act of 1938. This act set a legal standard in salary that business may not pay their workers any amount below. A hike in this wage will be more detrimental than beneficial for both American laborers and the US economy as a whole. This is due to the inability of small business being able to afford the hike, resulting in increased levels of unemployment and poverty. However, it is key to mention that not everyone agrees on this matter. Many of the detractors speculate that raising the minimum wage is in fact more positive than it is negative because the concepts of Fordism supposedly showcase how small business would actually …show more content…
Yet, in actuality, workers would never even receive the opportunity to become employed and reinvest the money as they would be replaced by modern machinery. As previously mentioned, raising the minimum wage would cripple both American business and employees. This effect is largely attributed to the fact that most small business and start-ups are unable to afford the necessary amount of employees to operate at a higher salary--creating an increase of lay-offs or/and the foreclosure of small companies. Even esteemed economists Michael Saltsman and Matthew Rosou recognize the harsh impact that minimum wage hikes have on jobs. “Since Seattle implemented its first minimum wage increase to $11 per hour”, they write, “the result was a loss of 1,000 restaurant jobs in May, which was the largest one-month job decline since the great recession in 2009.” (Saltsman, Rosou, 1) Evidently, minimum wage hikes are directly correlated to the loss of jobs, with only 15% of research showing other wise. This consequence is much more significant than solely unemployment, however. …show more content…
For instance, anonymous editorialist in ‘The Economist’ disputes the minimum wage under the basis that it lends increased revenues to business. They argue that “economic theory allows for the possibility that wage floors can boost both employment and pay allowing business to hire more workers.” The crucial flaw that this argument accrues is the assumption that business would continue hiring workers provided higher salaries. The reality of the situation is that leading studies suggest that business would rather purchase machines in place of their human laborers. Notable economists “David Neumark and William Wascher have determined that 85% of the best research points to a loss of jobs following a minimum wage increase...often workers are replaced by machinery.” (Saltsman, Rosou, 3) Obviously, corporations are more likely to utilize technology than risk their own financial security. Moreover, machines are not only a cost-saving replacement, but arguably outperform their human counterparts. The advantageous are reaped from the prospects that machines eliminate human-error, do not require time off, and, as non sentient objects, are fully subordinate. Beyond the consequences on employment, the growing the mechanic trend of expecting machines to do the labor of people promotes a widespread social lethargy that is taken almost directly out of Pixar’s ‘Wall-e’. Eventually, all aspects of life would be

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