Ok, I'm becoming a believer in the $15 minimum wage. This caught me by surprise-and I'm New Yorker. I call this Sumner Day as we know what a fan he is of the MW:
"New York's fast-food workers are getting a pay raise after the state's wage board approved a new minimum hourly pay of $15, up from $8.75, on Wednesday. "
"The wage hike applies to fast-food workers -- whether at big corporations like McDonald's (MCD - Get Report) and Burger King (BKW) or smaller, privately-owned restaurants -- but not to minimum-wage employees in retail and other industries."
"Workers who earn the state's current minimum wage of $8.75 make $350 during a 40-hour work week now, or $18,200 a year. Those totals will jump to $600 for a 40-hour work week, or $31,200 a year."
"The pay bump will not change workers' tax brackets for 2015. And they'll still be eligible for lower premiums on a marketplace insurance plan through the Affordable Care Act, as individuals who make between $11,670 and $46,680 may qualify. However, those who may qualify for lower premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs for marketplace insurance are capped at a yearly income of $29,175."
"The move was driven by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has stressed that raising wages for the lowest-paid workers helps the economy instead of hurting it. "
http://www.thestreet.com/story/13227728/1/new-york-boosts-fast-food-minimum-wage-to-15-to-aid-economy.html
So the people aren't waiting for the economists to come around to this. This is good. When the original MW was passed in the 1930s virtually no economist thought this was a good idea-it would lead to higher unemployment.
Even $15 may not be that high when you consider the NY-especially NYC-cost of living. When you factor that in, that still may not be more than $7 an hour in NYC which is the most expensive place in the country.
Still, it's a start and a major one. In the 90s you used to hear it said that we're becoming a nation of burger flippers. However, in the future this may be a good thing!
Everyone is going to start killing for the job! No doubt the Scott Sumners and Bob Murphys of the world would savage it but here is Governor Cuomo:
"The move was driven by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has stressed that raising wages for the lowest-paid workers helps the economy instead of hurting it."
"In an op-ed piece for The New York Times in May, he wrote: "More than 600 economists, including seven Nobel Prize laureates, have affirmed the growing consensus that raising wages for the lowest-paid workers doesn't hurt the economy. In fact, by increasing consumer spending and creating jobs, it helps the economy. Studies have shown that every dollar increase for a minimum-wage worker results in $2,800 in new consumer spending by household, and of the 13 states that have increased the minimum wage since 2014, including New York, all but one experienced employment growth."
"Gov. Cuomo said the state's low fast-food wages cost taxpayers $700 million a year in public assistance."
"New York's fast-food workers are getting a pay raise after the state's wage board approved a new minimum hourly pay of $15, up from $8.75, on Wednesday. "
"The wage hike applies to fast-food workers -- whether at big corporations like McDonald's (MCD - Get Report) and Burger King (BKW) or smaller, privately-owned restaurants -- but not to minimum-wage employees in retail and other industries."
"Workers who earn the state's current minimum wage of $8.75 make $350 during a 40-hour work week now, or $18,200 a year. Those totals will jump to $600 for a 40-hour work week, or $31,200 a year."
"The pay bump will not change workers' tax brackets for 2015. And they'll still be eligible for lower premiums on a marketplace insurance plan through the Affordable Care Act, as individuals who make between $11,670 and $46,680 may qualify. However, those who may qualify for lower premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs for marketplace insurance are capped at a yearly income of $29,175."
"The move was driven by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has stressed that raising wages for the lowest-paid workers helps the economy instead of hurting it. "
http://www.thestreet.com/story/13227728/1/new-york-boosts-fast-food-minimum-wage-to-15-to-aid-economy.html
So the people aren't waiting for the economists to come around to this. This is good. When the original MW was passed in the 1930s virtually no economist thought this was a good idea-it would lead to higher unemployment.
Even $15 may not be that high when you consider the NY-especially NYC-cost of living. When you factor that in, that still may not be more than $7 an hour in NYC which is the most expensive place in the country.
Still, it's a start and a major one. In the 90s you used to hear it said that we're becoming a nation of burger flippers. However, in the future this may be a good thing!
Everyone is going to start killing for the job! No doubt the Scott Sumners and Bob Murphys of the world would savage it but here is Governor Cuomo:
"The move was driven by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has stressed that raising wages for the lowest-paid workers helps the economy instead of hurting it."
"In an op-ed piece for The New York Times in May, he wrote: "More than 600 economists, including seven Nobel Prize laureates, have affirmed the growing consensus that raising wages for the lowest-paid workers doesn't hurt the economy. In fact, by increasing consumer spending and creating jobs, it helps the economy. Studies have shown that every dollar increase for a minimum-wage worker results in $2,800 in new consumer spending by household, and of the 13 states that have increased the minimum wage since 2014, including New York, all but one experienced employment growth."
"Gov. Cuomo said the state's low fast-food wages cost taxpayers $700 million a year in public assistance."
I'd say this man needs to be elected Governor immediately but-I guess NY already beat me to it. Still you wonder if Hillary would consider him for Veep? In the past I've thought this was very unlikely-just that he's so ambitious and such a big name himself it could clash with her.
However, this should really raise his profile and if she wants people to believe she's serious about wage stagnation what better signal than choosing him?
Meanwhile, for other workers still stuck at $8.75 this will drag those wages up-other industries will have to compete. Plus I believe that fast food workers were underpaid relative to other workers.
Clearly the $15 MW is an idea whose time has come.
Clearly the $15 MW is an idea whose time has come.
Economists are going to have a major natural experiment soon.
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