FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

What that new guy in Minot should do is hurry up and sign a lease to the apartment the paper helped get him, quit with no notice, and go to work in the oil fields.

 

Oh, bull. That has not happened with other mininum wage increases. A bogeyman.

And good point, Az. Business has to realize it ultimately boosts its market by paying workers a living wage.

 

Henry Ford's idea.

 

He's a commie.

 

and minimum wage is still 10/hr in Alberta.

 

When the "Your Congressperson sucks, and here's some examples of Congresspeople who suck!!!" smack is pulled out, you know we've officially gone next level.

 

Yep. I admit, it doesn't hold a candle to "First Kenyan" or "Obama Regime."

 

Jean-Baptiste Say would like a word ... and he'll probably need to talk to you about some remedial facts of life, too.

 

I was referring specifically to the $5 a day, and Ford's expectations of a bigger customer base.

Curate someone else's posts for a while. Seriously.

 

True quality is achieved when invoking the president's middle name.

 

Because I have apparently rubbed Az the wrong way, D_W will be honored with my response, which is this: The idea that Henry Ford "realized" that if he increased workers' wages he'd be more profitable because they'd be able to afford his products is absolutely total nonsense. Henry Ford raised those wages to secure a more loyal and dependable workforce, which saved him money.

But don't just take my word for it. This guy's actually run the numbers:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/timworstall/100016570/lefty-myths-of-our-time-why-henry-fords-pay-rise-for-workers-undermines-the-living-wage-campaign/

 

Looking at the big picture, that makes perfect sense.

Just like it would have made perfect sense for all newspaper publishers to charge for online access 10-15 years ago.

But businesses don't look at the big picture --- they look at their picture, their quarterly statement. And if paying employees "X" is likely to show a better quarterly statement than paying them "X + Y", then "X" it will be.

Hard to really blame them for that. Macy's isn't going to pay more just to its employees can spend money elsewhere, in the hopes that those other people getting that money will eventually spend some of it at Macy's.

Just too many variables and theoretical positives for a typical business to deal with.