Quote Originally Posted by david petley View Post
Really? They seem to be working fine in Australia, which is looking a bit successful right now.
I wasn't arguing that the success of an entire economy hinges upon whether or not there is a minimum wage.

Quote Originally Posted by silverx2 View Post
I think the big issue isnt so much that the government is worried that you will do anything for $1, but a result of If there was no minimum, It would result in companies being able to low ball people into doing jobs for less and less.

Jimmy and bob both want to flip burgers at the local burger joint,

Jimmy says he'll work for $.75, Bob says he'll work for $.50 Bob gets the job. It essentially Devalues employees and causes a reverse auction effect until you have someone working for less then what a person needs for cost of living. On top of that a company like walmart could force/buy all the other companies and then when a person needs a job walmart can force them to take tiny amounts of money because there is no competition . "hey walmart i want a job" "sure here you go plus your getting paid $.15 an hour!" "Wait what no way dude, im outa here im going to go work at this place they offer $4.50 an hour" "LOL we just bought them with all our profits now their employees are all fired, but they can work here for $.15 if they want"

End result, a lot of people getting paid Less then what it costs to but what is being produced by everyone else, This means products go unsold, Which results in businesses losing money not because of labor costs, but because the supply is so much higher than the demand they wont make a profit.
Companies wouldn't be low-balling, devaluing or forcing anyone to do anything. If it is worth Bob's time to work at a lower wage, he will do it. If not, he will continue looking for other jobs that pay more. Wal-Mart would not be able to pay that low of a wage without the disadvantage of losing employees as soon as they develop valuable skills/experience and leave to get a better wage somewhere else. They also wouldn't be able to realistically control every low-skilled job that Bob would qualify for. Besides, Wal-Mart already pays most people better than minimum wage: http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Wal-...aries-E715.htm

It's also not true that "a lot" of people would be getting paid less. Even with minimum wage laws in place, 97.3% of hourly wage earners already made more than minimum wage in 2004.

We're talking about a tiny fraction of the labor force, consisting mostly of part-time, inexperienced teenagers, working temporary jobs while going to school.

http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2004.htm