Why won't companies just offer more money if they need employees?

What's this about how "economically" minimum-wage laws (or any other regulation) might not make sense?

We can't talk about what makes economic sense, unless we define what makes economic success. The highest possible GDP growth? Well alright then, let's knock down the immigration laws and fly in the foreigners.

Oh, you mean something different than highest possible GDP growth. You mean a broader, more nuanced definition of economic success. Why by all means then -- let's go ahead and talk about what that would be. But don't rule out minimum-wage laws as not being part of the solution, when you don't even know the goal.

That passage was aimed at you, Governor Brown.

 

Meh.. While economists disagree on the impact of minimum wage increases, the "worst case" scenario is that it will barely a net negative. For the most part, they think the impact is "meh" as prices for consumer goods and services will generally increase to cover the wage increases (businesses gotta turn a profit, you know).

The only question here is what will happen in rural areas of California. Cities should be able to adjust to the price increases fairly easily and salaries are already (on average) higher than the minimum wage, but in rural communities it might not be as easy as the population base is smaller and salaries are (on average) closer to the minimum wage. The question is, will the relatively large wage increase in the rural communities have a positive, negative, or neutral impact.

 

Well,that's why NY has a separate MW for Upstate.

 

Interesting interview about UBI:

https://futurism.com/interview-scot...ncome-and-why-the-u-s-could-adopt-it-by-2035/

 

More retail jobs were lost in the last six months that jobs are in coal. Yet the economy is strong and consumer confidence is still high. Think about it Donald.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/business/retail-industry.html?_r=0

More workers in general merchandise stores have been laid off since October, about 89,000 Americans. That is more than all of the people employed in the United States coal industry, which President Trump championed during the campaign as a prime example of the workers who have been left behind in the economic recovery.

The job losses in retail could have unexpected social and political consequences, as huge numbers of low-wage retail employees become economically unhinged, just as manufacturing workers did in recent decades. About one out of every 10 Americans works in retail.

“There is a sea change happening in the retail industry,” said Mark Cohen, a former executive at Sears, who now runs the retail studies program at Columbia Business School. “And that is bringing a sea change in employment.”​

 

As I read reports about how fast automation is taking over jobs I've begun to wonder if this isn't inevitable if the country wishes to avoid major upheaval/bloodshed.

Ontario is set to run a test program.

CBC LINK

Gotta say Canada appears to be way more prepared to tackle the future of automation than the US is. I don't see the US Labor Secretary laying out an estimate that 40% of all jobs will be lost to automation in the next decade and that isn't just for blue collar employees either.

 

If only there was a way for older needy mostly white 'muricans to get the care that they need....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...aff0034e2de_story.html?utm_term=.0fbe40335db1

In New York, patients in rural areas have been injured, soiled themselves and gone without meals because paid caregivers aren’t available, according to testimony provided to state legislators in February.

In Illinois, the independence of people with severe developmental disabilities is being compromised as agencies experience severe staff shortages, according to a court monitor overseeing a federal consent decree.

The emerging crisis is driven by low wages — around $10 an hour, mostly funded by state Medicaid programs — and a shrinking pool of workers willing to perform this physically and emotionally demanding work: helping people get into and out of bed, go to the bathroom, shower, eat and participate in routine activities, often while dealing with challenging behaviors.

Experts warn that this labor problem portends even worse difficulties as America’s senior population swells to 88 million people in 2050, up from 48 million today, and requires more assistance with chronic health conditions and disabilities.
​

Can't anyone think of possible ways to fill the vacancies and make the job more attractive to people?









BTW, sarcasm.

 

Raise insurance premiums to pay better wages?

 

I was thinking more about in-sourcing or out-sourcing. But free trade seems to be off the table.

 

We could have groups of people determine which of the sickest would get switched to hospice care and sufficient levels of opioids to eliminate their suffering.

You know like a panel...what were those panels called again?

 

Obama VoodooCare Panels

 

These panels will be better,the best,because you know,we take their bad ideas and make them better.They had death panels we'll have,you know,not death,but advancement to heaven.Everyone who signs up for this or has their family members sign them up,they go right to heaven,which is what we all want,right?

 

Funny, aint heard talk of a living wage since the Big Boss Man took over.

 

How soon till it totally collapses the CA economy?

 

Sacramento has never cared what happens in rural areas of California.

Their whole paradigm is that everyone in California should live in some sort of urban, green, utopia, where everyone rides public transportation, and if they actually have an automobile, it's a Prius. The problem is nobody in California lives in a place like that, and no amount of wishing in Sacramento will make it so. Yet, they persist.

 

I am just guessing, but "nobody in California lives in a place like that" is probably not 100% correct.

 

Trump's Mar-a-Lago employees are all foreign, because Trump doesn't want to pay the wages that would be necessary to attract Americans. This weekend, I overheard my Trump supporter neighbor telling a story about some local company that allegedly is hiring cheaper foreign labor instead of Americans. She was outraged.

Whether she knows about Mar-a-Lago or not probably doesn't matter. My guess is that she will always support any Republican no matter how badly be behaves, and never a Democrat no matter his or her virtues. But still ... I had to shake my head at that one.

Oh, and naturally she uses the same lawn service I do -- Mr. Abrego's Landscaping. Abrego speaks a bit of English, his workers none at all. The price is right and the work is good. Ain't no way those are legal workers. Maybe or maybe not Abrego, definitely not the rest.

 

The interesting part of the entire H1 freeze was that the visas that typically went to the less skilled remained while those that went to the higher educated were frozen. That and Trump didn't freeze the immigration visas his businesses use.