Increases in Minimum Wage Hurt Small Business and Employees

The growing concentration of wealth in America and the deterioration of living standards for most people are emerging as a most important part of the political debate in our cities, States, and nationally.

It's a topic with plenty to debate, and consider. But certainly the solutions for improving one’s quality of life is not to be found in partisan political bickering, nor the language of the self serving, whose nauseating conflicting sounds only serve to lock us into the perpetual nothingness that continues to disgust us about Washington and Sacramento.

It seems from a fair reading of the many opposing views relative to Minimal wage and Living wage that opposition to any increase in, or institution of these wage formulas, is not only reasonable, but the more prudent of public policy.

As a “Safety Net” a minimum might be a reasonable protection for all of us? At the most, perhaps a place to begin, from which to earn a self generated market driven living earned income.

Mandatory wage increases hurt not only small businesses, but their employees as well. The pervasive and destructive effect of minimum-wage legislation on employment has been continually sorely misrepresented, and underestimated.

Big corporations do not have to absorb the cost because most minimum-wage jobs are offered by small businesses.

Government manipulation of the starting wage has consistently failed as a tool of social and/or economic justice. It has repeatedly been shown to be a job killer, and a universal disincentive to small business, as just one more onerous unfunded mandate and irrational regulatory tax burden further suffocating small business.

The proponents argue for a "fair" minimum wage, as if government could actually legislate wealth into existence. Laws don’t make jobs, people make their jobs.

Minimum wage laws discriminate against the less productive (Those who can still profitably be employed at a lower wages.), such as: teenagers, the retired, minorities, the disabled, and the less skilled.

The very job growth desired by such dangerous Pollyanna entitlement thinking is prohibitive in its ability to create any real personal financial incentive or help.

Such laws succeed only in redistributing the existing wealth of a society. The distortions caused by fixing the price of labor produce definite losers and winners; it is the least employable, the truly needy, who are the losers -- who lose their jobs. The winners either earn above the new fixed price or have protected jobs.

Furthermore, some people don't need a "living wage", as they are simply supplementing retirement income, and may prefer a mix of money income and other kinds of compensation.

Such unfunded mandated formulations have not been proven to reduce poverty nor narrow the income gap and puts a stranglehold on America's top job creators: small businesses.

It seems to make good press and photo OP’s, but not good public policy.

Interestingly most of the people who support such efforts, don’t live on, and never have lived on minimal wages, fixed wages, or living wage limitations themselves. But they want you to.

The overwhelming majority of economists and social scientists continue to affirm the job-killing nature and societal immobility of such mandatory wage increases.

Mandatory minimum or living wage increases end up reducing employment levels and their intended resultant life style for those people with the lowest skills, who need the work and increased income the most. There is no arguing that sad fact.

The question then seemingly is, in the face of that truth, what can be done to improve the real job opportunities, income levels and lifestyles of our fellow citizens and neighbors?