$10.10 Minimum Wage Would Actually Create New Jobs: Study

$10.10 Minimum Wage Would Actually Create New Jobs: Study
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/19/1010-minimum-wage_n_4474183.html

Raising the minimum wage would help the working poor and give the entire economy a boost, a new analysis finds.

If the minimum wage rose to $10.10 per hour, as Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama propose, 27.8 million workers would see their wages go up as a direct or indirect result of the boost, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. These workers would take home about $35 billion in additional wages and they would probably spend it, as low-income people living with little financial cushion tend to do.

The result: During the initial phase-in period, the U.S. economy would grow by about $22 billion, EPI found. The growth in the U.S. economy would result in about 85,000 new jobs, according to EPI. That counters arguments from conservative economists that raising the minimum wage could actually hurt the working poor by making employers hesitant to hire more workers. (A notion that’s been proven wrong by some economists and remains hotly debated.)

The analysis is an update to a similar report released by EPI earlier this year. It takes into account the fact that five states recently raised their minimum wage, meaning workers living in those states would feel less of an impact from a federal minimum wage boost than when EPI published the original research in March.

(more at above url)

Botton line: I am not buying the results of this study, but it will be interesting to hear what others think.

 

Make sense to me as low wages workers will most likely NOT save their money but rather use this new disposable income to buy more stuff, nicer stuff etc.

 

I think it's entirely plausible that $10 an hour cost is less than the benefit to society in terms of increased effective demand plus decreased "welfare" expenditures. I also think it's reasonable to say that at some higher minimum wage the cost would exceed the sum of benefits to society.

 

Prices would rise to offset labor costs. Yet another circle jerk.

 

On the surface at least EPI doesn't look particularly credible. Not to even mention the Huff & Puff Post. Anyone have an opinion on EPI's objectivity in general?

 

Depends on the sector. I read one CEO's statement that his company would instead trim their margin slightly.

 

..... Where?.....At the dollar store?

 

how come lefties can't understand this?

 

I wonder what the BoD thinks about their ceo's plan to make them less money.. sounds like empty words or even just fabricated bs.

 

He explained his business's limitations in terms of the competition and margin, and why he can't raise prices. The BoD will understand this.