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As a member of society on the lower end of the scale, I would love to see the minimum wage go up. But the harsh reality is that I would only be fooling myself should that happen. Most of the consumables we purchase on a day to day basis are provided to us by those who work in that lower bracket income. If I were to work at a fast food restaurant for example and my wages were increased by 20% along with all my fellow employees, then the owner of that establishment would need to raise his prices by probably 25% or more in order to cover his increased expenditures. The supplier to the restaurant will have increased their prices to cover the raise of their employees and so on down the line. In turn the people who are not working for minimum wage will start to feel the pinch of all the price increases going on around them and will in turn demand a raise in pay to combat the inflation. Now the effects of my minimum wage being increased has rippled across the entire economy.

The end result would simply be this. If my employer couldn't afford to pay my increased salary, then I would be laid off. if I am laid off I will need to collect unemployment insurance through the government. The government has established that I am entitled to, say 60% of my pay I was getting, so now the government needs to come up with more money to pay those who are now no longer working. This will means tax increases or cuts to other programs or both. If I am not laid off and my employer gives me the raise, my taxes will be increased to cover the expenses of those who are laid off. The $3.00 burger I used to make now costs $5.00 so any increase in disposable income that I enjoyed has now been eaten up with the increase in living expenses. Now that those around me in the higher wage bracket have also gotten raises to tackle inflation, I am no closer to reaching their plateau than I was before the minimum wage was increased. The only thing that will have occurred as a result of an increase in the minimum wage is an increase in inflation and the closing or scaling back of those businesses that could no longer compete. If somebody can come up with a plan to raise the minimum wage without increasing inflation, I am all ears. Until that time I will just press on and try to grab a bit of overtime to make ends meet. The economy thrives on the backs of the working poor

Learn more about this author, Al Reilly.
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