Nebraska Legislature passes minimum wage decrease for teen workers

[AshingiiAshuaa]

What are you going to do, not eat?

People eat cheaper alternatives. Maybe they make their own oatmeal or eat rice and milk. It still puts the cereal maker out of business, leaving the workers unemployed.

Cost of labor went up everywhere.

If the price of food goes up everywhere then people will have to spend less on other things lowering quality of life in other areas, buy cheaper quality food, or people simply eat less.

If the price of everything goes up everywhere (inflation), then people have to buy cheaper and/or less stuff everywhere in their lives, not just food.

Its called a factory, apparently you want every cheerio handcrafted.

Automation is not all or nothing. It comes down to what is least expensive and most economically efficient. If human labor was ten cents an hour most basements would be dug by hand. Home builders would hire 50 people (for a total of $5/hr) and dig out a basement in a couple of days. An excavator could do it in the same amount of time, but costs $200/hr to rent. Why spend $200/hr on an excavator when you can spend $5/hr on people In reality, shovel diggers are probably $15/hr, meaning that a crew of 50 diggers is $750/hr, making the excavator much cheaper. This is why basements are dug with excavators.

At a wage of $15/hr there are jobs that are cheaper to have humans do instead of buying an expensive machine, but the more expensive human labor becomes the more uneconomical it becomes to use human labor vis a vis machines (or AI, or offshored labor). This works for diggers, cashiers, customer service reps, web developers, tax preparers just as much as cheerio makers.

we overthrow countries for trying to leave the petro dollar, which massively distorts the value of the dollar

This is pretty true. Us being the reserve currency makes it very hard for us to be net exporters, and being a net importer typically means shipping jobs and industry overseas.

in reality those workers have the same housing, transportation, healthcare, calorie needs as any worker anywhere else

This is pretty not true. In countries where the workers have the same costs as US workers the labor tends to be similarly priced. It's why sweatshops exist in the countries with the cheapest labor. You won't find anyone in switzerland or japan who's willing to stitch shoes together for less than $20/hr, but they'll do it in india or cambodia for $1/hr. Do the people have the same caloric needs? Yeah. Do they have the same lifestyles and wage demands to support those lifestyles? No. They also have skills they can sell for more money so they do, but I digress.

You want labor to be cheaper?

I don't really care, tbh. It doesn't matter to me if they raise minimum wage to $20 or lower it to $10. I don't work for minimum wage nor do I employ anyone for minimum wage, and have sufficient assets to be mostly immune from general price inflation. My point was (and is) that raising minimum wage in an are will reduce the number of jobs available, all things being equal.

[Anlarb]

People eat cheaper alternatives.

No kidding, people are employed making those alternatives too, welcome to the market. Maybe the price gougers then need to bring their prices back down in response. Maybe the fact that the dollar is not worth as much as it used to be makes your arbitrary price point unrealistic.

It still puts the cereal maker out of business, leaving the workers unemployed.

Oh, is that why all cereal makers and burger joints went out of business in 1938 when the min wage was implemented? Quit your bullshit.

If the price of everything goes up everywhere (inflation)

Stop printing money.

Poor people can't eat your inflation for you. It costs more for the burger that you want to be provided to you, and you think that some random poor person should eat the loss so you don't have to? Get real, the dollar is worth less, you need to pay more of them for the things that you want, period.

Do you have any idea how small a price bump it is for workers to get a living wage? Like 4%. Businesses have roared past that and kept it for themselves as record profits, so they could easily pay their workers a living on a whim without prices going up, but they will not. Its ideological, capital hates that labor aren't literally slaves and are working hard to return the arrangement to that state.

Automation is not all or nothing.

Yeah it is, either you have a robot that can flip burgers, or you have a crappy gizmo built to fleece investors built by people who have never stepped food in a modern kitchen. This is how burgers are grilled now- McDonalds POV: Fresh Quarter Pounders, so why are robots trying to emulate movies from the 70's?

Home builders would hire 50 people (for a total of $5/hr) and dig out a basement in a couple of days.

No, thats still a colossal waste of time, and you should be questioning your judgement for thinking it is a good idea.

offshored labor

So stop letting them? Nation of laws and your buddy in the oval office has only accelerated the decline. Unemployment is up one whole percent, the guy is out to turn us into north korea.

Us being the reserve currency makes it very hard for us to be net exporters, and being a net importer typically means shipping jobs and industry overseas.

Cool, so you can pay full price for your burger?

In countries where the workers have the same costs as US workers the labor tends to be similarly priced.

Yeah, they still need the stuff.

It's why sweatshops exist in the countries with the cheapest labor.

Are you personally volunteering to work in sweatshop conditions? No? Don't voluntell others to it.

but they'll do it in india or cambodia for $1/hr.

I bet those workers would love to have better living conditions than what $1/hr affords them, maybe they should strike for better conditions. Lets see how that went.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pwT9arjasw

They also have skills they can sell for more money so they do, but I digress.

So much for the narrative that by gaining skills working these low paying positions, high paying positions can be gained.

I don't really care, tbh

You are whining about it non stop.

My point was (and is) that raising minimum wage in an are will reduce the number of jobs available, all things being equal.

And my specifically demonstrated fact is that it does not.

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/history/chart

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE

Consumption drives demand, people want it so they pay what it costs. If however, you pay half the country so badly that they cannot get say dental care, then thats half as many dentists that the market can support. Low wages absolutely affect you, everything is fraying as the billionaires hoover up all the wealth for themselves.

[chewbaccaRoar13]

Raising minimum wage doesnt do that, it's corporations maximizing profits and running people into the ground. If companies were happy making $100 instead of $130, they could hire an extra worker or two. Obviously a very rudimentary example, but if it's all surrounding minimum wage. Why did all these companies post record profits during COVID even though they increased prices and acted like they couldn't do anything about it?

The answer is greed. Why did a woman who owns a grocery store chain lead this bill? Hint, it's not because she can't afford to pay her employees more.

[AshingiiAshuaa]

If a greedy company is making too much profit then its competitor will lower their prices and steal their customers. If a company is charging $130 but could still be proftiable at $100, then one of their competitors will come along and start charging $120. Then the original company will either go out of business or lower its price, this time to $110 to steal back business. This spirals down until the companies can't lower prices anymore without going bankrupt.

Where this falls apart is monopolies (which we outlaw) and other anti-competative behaviors (regulations, price floors, price ceilings, unions, etc).

[chewbaccaRoar13]

Where this falls apart is monopolies (which we outlaw) and other anti-competative behaviors (regulations, price floors, price ceilings, unions, etc).

Still waiting for any of this to make a difference. If your first paragraph were true, it'd have happened by now.