Tuesday, February 18, 2014

No, A Minimum Wage Hike Won't Destroy Jobs...

The minimum wage hike will not lead to job loss because of the economic multiplier effect. In lay mans terms this means putting additional money in the hands of people who spend it will help boost not deflate the economy.

A report from the Economic Policy Institute backs this theory up
Based on the economic multiplier effect that results from putting additional income in the hands of lower-income workers, raising the minimum wage will likely have a modest but positive impact on job creation, leading to an additional 85,000 net new jobs when fully phased in. Lower-income earners spend their income more immediately, more completely, and more locally, than do higher income earners, and therefore generate more economic activity. Increasing the wages of 27.8 million workers by $35 billion over the phase-in period generates an additional GDP impact of $22 billion.
So, yes some jobs will be lost. The multiplier effect will actually improve the over all economy. I think one of the most telling aspects of the CBO report on the increase in minimum wages is that it will reduce HHS spending around Obamacare. The more income people are making the less money they qualify for in health care subsidies, reducing the government burden further. People are really running out of reasonable arguments to make for not raising the minimum wage.

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