What does minimum wage get you?

Originally posted by quackquack
If that were true we could keep raising everyone's wages until we all became infinitely rich. The truth is we are all richer when goods can be produced cheaper and raising wages causes goods to be more expensive and we can purchase less and therefore we are, in real terms poorer.

We've just had this discussion over on the "Someone who finally get's it" thread.

It's not spending that drives an economy, it's not more money whizzing around, it is wealth production. And the more something costs to produce (in real terms not fake money terms) the less it will occur. Higher minimum wage artificially pushing the price of labor up equals less of that labor being purchased.

A person assesses what an hour of their time is worth, they figure out they will be better off if they sell an hour of their time for x less than the state mandated minimum. zahlanzi and his buddies have no right to step in and destroy that opportunity, an opportunity that person sees as being able to improve their situation.