Min Wage Increase Doesn't Impact Employement

[EMAWesome 101]

22 hours ago, Incredulity said:

The house actually should be passing min wage increases weekly.  Trump would probably sign it.  It would put Mitch and the Senate on the button.

And the moment Trump says he would sign it every Democrat in Washington D.C. will vote against it.

 

This whole subject is more a human behavior/economic issue than a political one.  When you have a job making stuff you want the highest wages you can make and damn what that does to the cost of the stuff you make.  When you are buying stuff somebody else made you want to pay as little money as possible and damn what that does to those workers wages.  Economics is simply the natural tug of war between these two mindsets/interests.

[Harvard Man 9]

Do people really want robot cum on their burgers!??

[Harvard Man 9]

Also, mexicans are GREAT cooks. See Austin. 

Microwaves otoh are terrible cooks. See popcorn.

[Nivek 17424]

15 minutes ago, Harvard Man said:

Microwaves otoh are terrible cooks. See popcorn.

Without microwaves how else could you get that hotter than the sun burning cheese from a hot pocket when you were 16?

Edited April 10, 2019 by Nivek

[High Plains Drifter 11192]

 

16 hours ago, XYZ said:

This thread got JimmyJames’d.

 

Lets see we got:

Derka'd- to ruin thread by making everything about how mean everyone is to you.

Slorch'd- to ruin a thread by making everything about how simple something is, and by god, my way is the best way.

Swam'd- to start a thread and get completely fucking owned.

Bernarded- to get unjustly harassed (or worse) by miscreant cops.

now JimmyJames'd- to derail a thread by completely taking it off into some tangent that really doesn't have anything to do with the thread.

 

Did I miss any? Probably one or two from the basketball or baseball forum.

 

Maybe one day, if you try really hard and say your prayers, your username will become a past tense verb on Surly.

 

[Macanudo 13338]

1 hour ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

 

Lets see we got:

Derka'd- to ruin thread by making everything about how mean everyone is to you.

Slorch'd- to ruin a thread by making everything about how simple something is, and by god, my way is the best way.

Swam'd- to start a thread and get completely fucking owned.

Bernarded- to get unjustly harassed (or worse) by miscreant cops.

now JimmyJames'd- to derail a thread by completely taking it off into some tangent that really doesn't have anything to do with the thread.

 

Did I miss any? Probably one or two from the basketball or baseball forum.

 

Maybe one day, if you try really hard and say your prayers, your username will become a past tense verb on Surly.

 

Tahoe'd - To start a thread without any real intent to discuss anything worthwhile.

[NBMisha 224]

Henry Jamesed - to insert obtuse joke/gif

[tantric superman 4668]

High Plains Driftered...to opine critically upon any part of a thread, especially if such criticism causes the reader to lose all focus upon the original subject of a thread:

The crickets and the rust-beetles scuttled among the nettles of the sage thicket, as they drifted to and fro upon the high plains.  "Vámonos, amigos," he whispered, and threw the busted leather flintcraw over the loose weave of the saddlecock. And they rode on in the friscalating dusklight.  

 

[ChickenSandwich 9971]

New shit has come to light man....

Seattle's Minimum Wage Has Been a Disaster, as the City's Own Study Confirms

– The numbers of hours worked by low-wage workers fell by *3.5 million hours per quarter*. This was reflected both in thousands of job losses and reductions in hours worked by those who retained their jobs.

– The losses were so dramatic that this increase “reduced income paid to low-wage employees of single-location Seattle businesses by roughly $120 million on an annual basis.” On average, low-wage workers *lost* $125 per month. The minimum wage has always been a lousy income transfer program, but at this level you’d come out ahead just setting a hundred million dollars a year on fire. And that’s before we get into who kept vs lost their jobs.

– Estimates of the response of labor demand are substantially higher than much of the previous research, which may have been expected given how much higher (and how localized) this minimum wage is relative to previously-studied ones.

– The impacts took some time to be reflected in the level of employment, as predicted by Meer and West (2016).

– The authors are able to replicate the results of other papers that find no impact on the restaurant industry with their own data by imposing the same limitations that other researchers have faced. This shows that those papers’ findings were likely driven by their data limitations. This is an important thing to remember as you see knee-jerk responses coming from the usual corners.

 

https://fee.org/articles/seattles-minimum-wage-has-been-a-disaster-as-the-citys-own-study-confirms/#0

[JimmyJames 12271]

30 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

New shit has come to light man....

Seattle's Minimum Wage Has Been a Disaster, as the City's Own Study Confirms

– The numbers of hours worked by low-wage workers fell by *3.5 million hours per quarter*. This was reflected both in thousands of job losses and reductions in hours worked by those who retained their jobs.

– The losses were so dramatic that this increase “reduced income paid to low-wage employees of single-location Seattle businesses by roughly $120 million on an annual basis.” On average, low-wage workers *lost* $125 per month. The minimum wage has always been a lousy income transfer program, but at this level you’d come out ahead just setting a hundred million dollars a year on fire. And that’s before we get into who kept vs lost their jobs.

– Estimates of the response of labor demand are substantially higher than much of the previous research, which may have been expected given how much higher (and how localized) this minimum wage is relative to previously-studied ones.

– The impacts took some time to be reflected in the level of employment, as predicted by Meer and West (2016).

– The authors are able to replicate the results of other papers that find no impact on the restaurant industry with their own data by imposing the same limitations that other researchers have faced. This shows that those papers’ findings were likely driven by their data limitations. This is an important thing to remember as you see knee-jerk responses coming from the usual corners.

 

https://fee.org/articles/seattles-minimum-wage-has-been-a-disaster-as-the-citys-own-study-confirms/#0

Yes the Koch brothers and the organizations they finance don’t like to increase the minimum wage. Thanks for pointing that out. 

[happyfunball 481]

Yes the Koch brothers and the organizations they finance don’t like to increase the minimum wage. Thanks for pointing that out. 

Exactly this. Studies have shown positive economic benefits of increasing min wage.

Right wing funded interest group promulgates lies to further their ideological agenda trying to create a debate on the topic when there shouldn’t be any.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

6 minutes ago, happyfunball said:

 

Exactly this. Studies have shown positive economic benefits of increasing min wage.

Right wing funded interest group promulgates lies to further their ideological agenda trying to create a debate on the topic when there shouldn’t be any.

 

An increase in the min. wage should put more dollars into the economy, but at what point does inflation begin to be affected by the increase in wages ?

[CO Horn 172]

In Colorado, they are are increasing the minimum wage annually until it reaches $12 next January.  Unemployment has increased, but not sure if this due to the minimum wage increases.  Job openings are plentiful, but there do not seem to be people willing to fill the jobs.

For example, a few weeks ago somebody was posting for in-home care providers starting at $13.50/hour.  People were complaining about this sub-standard wage.  The poster pointed out that they were offering above the average pay for this job and people still were complaining. 

I think this is a by-product of the minimum wage increase.  Also, the cost of living for housing in Colorado has increased a great deal in the past few years and it is tough to find housing, even with the increase in the minimum wage.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 minutes ago, CO Horn said:

In Colorado, they are are increasing the minimum wage annually until it reaches $12 next January.  Unemployment has increased, but not sure if this due to the minimum wage increases.  Job openings are plentiful, but there do not seem to be people willing to fill the jobs.

For example, a few weeks ago somebody was posting for in-home care providers starting at $13.50/hour.  People were complaining about this sub-standard wage.  The poster pointed out that they were offering above the average pay for this job and people still were complaining. 

I think this is a by-product of the minimum wage increase.  Also, the cost of living for housing in Colorado has increased a great deal in the past few years and it is tough to find housing, even with the increase in the minimum wage.

The cost of housing will be a new frontier in price control at some point. It's the major driver of a localities cost of living demographics.

[happyfunball 481]

An increase in the min. wage should put more dollars into the economy, but at what point does inflation begin to be affected by the increase in wages ?

If you do any research, we are struggling to have any real meaningful inflation. Yes in a hypothetical wage increases will result in inflation but we are where near that point.

[happyfunball 481]

In Colorado, they are are increasing the minimum wage annually until it reaches $12 next January.  Unemployment has increased, but not sure if this due to the minimum wage increases.  Job openings are plentiful, but there do not seem to be people willing to fill the jobs.
For example, a few weeks ago somebody was posting for in-home care providers starting at $13.50/hour.  People were complaining about this sub-standard wage.  The poster pointed out that they were offering above the average pay for this job and people still were complaining. 
I think this is a by-product of the minimum wage increase.  Also, the cost of living for housing in Colorado has increased a great deal in the past few years and it is tough to find housing, even with the increase in the minimum wage.

Yes, I also have lots of feelings and thoughts without any data to support my pre-disposed view.

[happyfunball 481]

The cost of housing will be a new frontier in price control at some point. It's the major driver of a localities cost of living demographics.

Or we could encourage development and density in cities and not have a tax policy that treats homes as an asset class instead of a basic human need.

[Zepol87 9346]

In Colorado, they are are increasing the minimum wage annually until it reaches $12 next January.  Unemployment has increased, but not sure if this due to the minimum wage increases.  Job openings are plentiful, but there do not seem to be people willing to fill the jobs.
For example, a few weeks ago somebody was posting for in-home care providers starting at $13.50/hour.  People were complaining about this sub-standard wage.  The poster pointed out that they were offering above the average pay for this job and people still were complaining. 
I think this is a by-product of the minimum wage increase.  Also, the cost of living for housing in Colorado has increased a great deal in the past few years and it is tough to find housing, even with the increase in the minimum wage.

What?

[FondrenRoad 4378]

10 hours ago, CO Horn said:

In Colorado, they are are increasing the minimum wage annually until it reaches $12 next January.  Unemployment has increased, but not sure if this due to the minimum wage increases.  Job openings are plentiful, but there do not seem to be people willing to fill the jobs.

For example, a few weeks ago somebody was posting for in-home care providers starting at $13.50/hour.  People were complaining about this sub-standard wage.  The poster pointed out that they were offering above the average pay for this job and people still were complaining. 

I think this is a by-product of the minimum wage increase.  Also, the cost of living for housing in Colorado has increased a great deal in the past few years and it is tough to find housing, even with the increase in the minimum wage.

The problem for the in-home care employer is that he is only looking at wages for the same job and not looking at what other jobs are paying a similar wage. All the in-home care agencies are underpaying for their place in the overall job market. That's why those jobs aren't getting filled. 

People are turning them down because they can flip burgers for nearly the same wage without needing to change old people's bedpans. If you want people to work the job available to them that has the worst work duties, you need to offer a better wage than alternative jobs. 

[CO Horn 172]

9 hours ago, happyfunball said:

 

Yes, I also have lots of feelings and thoughts without any data to support my pre-disposed view.

 

And what would my pre-disposed views be?

Edited June 4, 2019 by CO Horn
Spelling

[Nice Guy Eddie 13742]

Not everyone can competently work at a DQ for $10/hr. 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28940]

A small Oreo Blizzard costs $3.23? Holy shit, Warren. 

[maninblack 7975]

The market will always be more efficient at determining the price of labor than some politician looking for votes.

[Nivek 17424]

Not everyone can competently work at a DQ for $10/hr. 
 

They should visit a slaughterhouse next.

[hpslugga 4097]

4 hours ago, maninblack said:

The market will always be more efficient at determining the price of labor than some politician looking for votes.

Riiiiiiight

[Guest]

On 4/10/2019 at 11:39 AM, High Plains Drifter said:

 

 

Lets see we got:

Derka'd- to ruin thread by making everything about how mean everyone is to you.

Slorch'd- to ruin a thread by making everything about how simple something is, and by god, my way is the best way.

Swam'd- to start a thread and get completely fucking owned.

Bernarded- to get unjustly harassed (or worse) by miscreant cops.

now JimmyJames'd- to derail a thread by completely taking it off into some tangent that really doesn't have anything to do with the thread.

 

Did I miss any? Probably one or two from the basketball or baseball forum.

 

Maybe one day, if you try really hard and say your prayers, your username will become a past tense verb on Surly.

 

Things are simple...

but people don't want them to be.

 

IDGAF if you do it my way.  If you ignore the example, however; STFU about how difficult life is.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13742]

5 hours ago, maninblack said:

The market will always be more efficient at determining the price of labor than some politician looking for votes.

Just like in the South between 1619 and 1865.

market forces are important for labor costs but the govt has to set a floor.  It’s fair to disagree what that floor should be, but to say it shouldn’t exist is silly.

[Guest]

I would love to hear when the last time people on here worked a primary job at minimum wage.

Mine was in high school in 1988.

 

 

[SubliminalHorn 7012]

2 hours ago, slorch said:

I would love to hear when the last time people on here worked a primary job at minimum wage.

Mine was in high school in 1988.

 

 

What would that prove? Most here have at least an undergraduate education, and yes even tech barely qualifies as that. Not everybody has the same opportunities as us and can’t always get high paying jobs. So what’s your point?

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, SubliminalHorn said:

What would that prove? Most here have at least an undergraduate education, and yes even tech barely qualifies as that. Not everybody has the same opportunities as us and can’t always get high paying jobs. So what’s your point?

Acting as if minimum-wage is some sort of sustenance for a grown ass adult is idiocy. 

 If you want to make more money, take on more responsibility than the bare minimum. 

Edited June 8, 2019 by slorch

[SubliminalHorn 7012]

2 minutes ago, slorch said:

Acting as if minimum-wage is some sort of subsistence for a grown ass adult is idiocy. 

And that’s the point, it isn’t. It should be more. 

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, SubliminalHorn said:

And that’s the point, it isn’t. It should be more. 

Responsibility?  I agree. get off your ass and do something non-menial.

Hell, my employer offers $17.10/hr plus bennies with clean driving record no felonies.  Show up and do light to medium work for 38-40 hours per week with many opportunities for OT.  It's still challenging as fuck to stay staffed on our entry level positions.

Why do you think that is?  Some people don't want to do shit.  generally speaking.  I shouldn't have to pay them more for minimum wage when other jobs are available.

What are they actually producing?  Why are we penalizing businesses?

Edited June 8, 2019 by slorch

[maninblack 7975]

6 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Just like in the South between 1619 and 1865.

market forces are important for labor costs but the govt has to set a floor.  It’s fair to disagree what that floor should be, but to say it shouldn’t exist is silly.

Then set it at a gagillion dollars and make everyone happy

[Nivek 17424]

Responsibility?  I agree. get off your ass and do something non-menial.
Hell, my employer offers $17.10/hr plus bennies with clean driving record no felonies.  Show up and do light to medium work for 38-40 hours per week with many opportunities for OT.  It's still challenging as fuck to stay staffed on our entry level positions.
Why do you think that is?  Some people don't want to do shit.  generally speaking.  I shouldn't have to pay them more for minimum wage when other jobs are available.
What are they actually producing?  Why are we penalizing businesses?

What job and industry? What commitments?

[hpslugga 4097]

18 minutes ago, maninblack said:

Then set it at a gagillion dollars and make everyone happy

Hang on, you either get to address fake arguments or fake numbers in a single post. You don’t get to do both. 

[maninblack 7975]

4 minutes ago, hpslugga said:

Hang on, you either get to address fake arguments or fake numbers in a single post. You don’t get to do both. 

riiiiiiiiight

[hpslugga 4097]

6 minutes ago, maninblack said:

riiiiiiiiight

That's not gonna work.

1) You implied that the previous poster had suggested anywhere in the remote vicinity of some exorbitant minimum wage when his exact words were "but the govt has to set a floor.  It’s fair to disagree what that floor should be, but to say it shouldn’t exist is silly." You knew he said that, so to characterize what he said as anything otherwise in order to advance some "point" is a paradigmatic example of a strawman fallacy. You knew that.

2) "Gagillion" isn't a real number. You knew that too.

[Guest]

On 9/6/2018 at 9:58 AM, The Dog said:

The traditional argument against minimum wage increases is that it causes inflation. Those arguing that it caused unemployment believed that the higher minimum wage would result in increased automation, but clearly some jobs can't be easily replaced by machines (cooks for example). What this tells me is that we've hit some limit on automation replacing humans or at least diminishing returns to a point that it's worth just paying people more rather than investing in the technology. 

Automation doesn’t necessarily replace jobs either. It sometimes can actually increase productivity that creates the need for more headcount to keep up with demand. 

Within our industry we’ve added jobs multiple times when either warehouse picking by lights  or ‘touch free invoicing’ occured on the frontline. 

[Chooky 13341]

1 hour ago, maninblack said:

Then set it at a gagillion dollars and make everyone happy

Seems like turnover would be high because everyone would retire as gagillionaires after just one hour of work. Then they'd have enough capital to compete with your business by opening their own fart sounds factory. Think of how many fart sounds you'd have to sell to be able to pay your workforce. This fart sounds business model of yours is full of holes. I'm beginning to think you don't know the first thing about the fart sounds industry. 

[BradInATX 9208]

 

 

 

 

 

Responsibility?  I agree. get off your ass and do something non-menial. Hell, my employer offers $17.10/hr plus bennies with clean driving record no felonies.  Show up and do light to medium work for 38-40 hours per week with many opportunities for OT.  It's still challenging as fuck to stay staffed on our entry level positions. Why do you think that is? 

 

 Probably because they can do better elsewhere. Maybe what you've hurt yourself patting your own back about just isn't attractive to candidates. Seems like you're butt hurt by capitalism.

[BradInATX 9208]

Responsibility?  I agree. get off your ass and do something non-menial. Hell, my employer offers $17.10/hr plus bennies with clean driving record no felonies.  Show up and do light to medium work for 38-40 hours per week with many opportunities for OT.  It's still challenging as fuck to stay staffed on our entry level positions. Why do you think that is?  Some people don't want to do shit.  generally speaking.  I shouldn't have to pay them more for minimum wage when other jobs are available.

What are they actually producing?  Why are we penalizing businesses?

 

 

@bad_teammate bat signal You're slippin, homeboy. This guy acting magnanimous that his company is offering people 34k/year. And he's appalled that thugs and millennials aren't blowing up his inbox.Get him. Kill kill kill

 

 

 

 

 

[Blotto 24044]

You would have to pay me a hell of a lot more than $34k/year to listen to Slorch's ignorant ass all day long. 

[BradInATX 9208]

You would have to pay me a hell of a lot more than $34k/year to listen to Slorch's ignorant ass all day long. 

You must have missed the fact that he's offering plenty of opportunity for overtime!

[Bozo_Casanova 26905]

The market will always be more efficient at determining the price of labor than some politician looking for votes.

“Efficient” in what sense? Also, the “price of labor” in what sense? Also, what market?


And bear in mind as you consider your answer that I’m an actual price discovery absolutist, not some libertarian wishcaster.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, BradInATX said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Probably because they can do better elsewhere. Maybe what you've hurt yourself patting your own back about just isn't attractive to candidates. Seems like you're butt hurt by capitalism.

Seems like you cant get off your ass and want someone else to carry you. 

 

Man up, brah.  It ain’t that hard. 

[BradInATX 9208]

Seems like you cant get off your ass and want someone else to carry you. 
 
Man up, brah.  It ain’t that hard. 

Ha

[Guest]

 

13 hours ago, Blotto said:

You would have to pay me a hell of a lot more than $34k/year to listen to Slorch's ignorant ass all day long. 

As if you could work there, hippie.

Edited June 9, 2019 by slorch

[Guest]

13 hours ago, BradInATX said:

13 hours ago, Blotto said:

You would have to pay me a hell of a lot more than $34k/year to listen to Slorch's ignorant ass all day long. 

You must have missed the fact that he's offering plenty of opportunity for overtime!

the thread posits that people cannot make a living without gov't interference.

Sorry my example is a threat to that whining.

Edited June 9, 2019 by slorch

[washparkhorn 9974]

Labor and environmental arbitrage caused a lot of American jobs to be off-shored or situated across the border. Hell - anti-union states did the same thing to states with better labor protections laws.

This is not a libertarian v. FDR Democrat debate. This is neoliberalism v. level-playing field capitalism.

Neoliberalism - ushered in by Carter and fully Thackerized by Reagan - has dominated American politics.

Hard to believe now, but Nixon and Ford were the last FDR Presidents.

Carter ushered in a new era of cheap labor, goods, and less industrialization in the US. Reagan's men reformed the government into a neoliberal austerity machine. The safety net was pulled.

Trump is the first non-neoliberal President since the Nixon/Ford Administrations. He doesn't exactly have an alternative plan, but at least he understands neoliberalism (no matter whether there was a D or an R following the politician's name) has negative externalities and they inflict a heavy toll.

This is not a capitalist society anymore and was barely one '76. Capitalism relies on a level playing field (and taxes on wealth, not income - see Adam Smith). Neoliberalism favors the well connected - with its worship of public-private partnerships and politicians deciding who gets fed by looking at who feeds them the most wealth. 

With the full opening of China, we announced slave labor and wage slaves were proper and pushing production to lands that have no environmental regulations was permitted (because they said China would by our manufactured products - except we don't make stuff anymore . . .  except for farmers, so there isn't a hell of a lot to sell to China, which worsens the situation here). 

Would a living wage make it more expensive to produce in the US? Certainly. Do multinationals give a damn where the labor comes from? Hell no; they want cheap and want to pawn off their negative externalities on impoverished peoples ruled by despots. 

Do we want a level playing field with other countries? I don't think that is too much to ask.

We used to take pride in American ingenuity and hard work. Some of us still do. We are seeing a turning. For instance, I was looking get out of mud/snow portable ramps for backcountry camping trips (I hate being stuck). I did my research. Ran across an Austraiian Youtube video comparing a $300 pair of Australian plastic ramps to a $100 pair of Chinese knockoff. In the comments, it was surprising to hear the echos of what we hear in the US - buy the Aussie product and support "Straylin" workers. In the US, that would be unacceptable nationalism. In the land down under, it is just an isolated nation surrounded by cheap labor to the north and increasingly in Africa now. They are looking out for their own until the storm passes. 

The world is dominated by neoliberal economics, which turns a blind eye to dictators, slave labor, and environmental destruction. We have seen the despair it brings down upon those slipping into the abyss.

If Trump does anything right, he needs to do two things - no wars and ending the status quo. He has put the status quo on hold and war seems to always be looming. If Biden is the guy, we will see the same 2016 issues again in 2020 - go back to more of the same or make a fresh cut and begin again with the idea of a government for the people and by the people.

Multinationals have fantastic marketing budgets, but they are not immune to public pressure for real change. If you want a living wage, you have candidates who support that idea. If you want to stop environmental arbitrage (pushing pollution emissions elsewhere to get around national regulations), there are candidates who support that view. If you want to stop labor arbitrage (shipping jobs over to places where slave labor and wage slaves will work for pennies), there are candidates who agree with you. But those candidates are the ones least associated with the old neoliberal Democratic and Republican Parties.

Guys like Romney (Hedge Fund operator) and Biden, Harris, or Booker (the New Democrats, i.e., the Clinton Way) are neoliberals. If you support them, you do not support environmental protection, labor rights and a level playing field. It is as simple as that.

More of the same is killing this nation by eroding its working and middle classes. You are closer to the edge than you think. Add another eight years of neoliberalism (and its allied foreign policy dictates called neoconservativism) and we will snuff out any hopes of a revitalized working and middle class. Markets depend on players using the same set of rules - not so in neoliberalism. And foreign policy should always strive to keep our noses out of other peoples' problems - not so with neoconservatism.

From Carter to Obama, we have lived under neoliberalism. How did that work out? Safety net - gone. Dominant industrial power - gone. Rising life expectancy - gone. Kids living better than their parents did - gone. Affordable housing - gone. Living wages - gone. Where did the money go? To those who control wealth (not income). They bought this system so they could get richer - at the expense of the middle and working classes. I don't know how anyone could be happy with that outcome in the US or around the world.

Back to the Australian get out of sand/snow ramps, I saw no comment criticizing those who said they were going to support Austrailian workers and buy the Australian ramps - even though they were $200 more. This is an injection molded product, i.e., cheap to make, but to pay an Australian a living wage, they are more expensive to make in Austrailia. I am not sure we have the same support for our workers here in the US by those who have gained so much from neoliberalism. They know where the bodies are buried and who did the killings. They feed you endless corporate goodwill advertising, while they do business in the halls of Congress. They still aren't listening. They know how to deal with populism - they divide and conquer. Their plan is working thus far. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by washparkhorn

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 hours ago, slorch said:

the thread posits that people cannot make a living without gov't interference.

Sorry my example is a threat to that whining.

Some people can't make it without gov't assistance (which can be labeled interference). Nothing new there.  What's the alternative ?  Wealth inequality is approaching, if not exceeding 1920's levels. THAT is not good for a functioning, and healthy capital/free enterprise based society. The dollars being held by corporations, and not being circulated back into the economy is also not healthy for our economy. Wage stagnation is real, and it needs to be addressed.

The middle class is the portion of society responsible for spending the most money on durable goods.   A healthy middle class is required in a healthy, and or growing economy.  

I'm all for people making millions, but making millions on the back of labor that affords you that milestone without giving back a livable wage should be addressed.  Having said that flipping burgers at Mac Donalds is not a career, nor should it be rewarded as such, but whose gonna fill those positions ?  The bottom of the barrel is visible in the labor market now.  It's going to get worse if the economy stays strong, an unemployment rates remain where they are.