Thursday, June 19, 2014

Minimum wage hike may cause layoffs

From the Observer:

Comptroller Scott Stringer wants the city’s minimum wage to soar more than $5, though he conceded yesterday businesses may struggle with the potential hike.

Mr. Stringer, appearing on NY1′s Inside City Hall, explained the rationale behind a report he released this week calling for a $13.13 city minimum wage, conceding that businesses would need to take time to adjust to the hefty boost.

“There’s no question that if you raise the minimum wage, it will be challenging for businesses to … adapt,” Mr. Stringer told host Errol Louis. “But they will adapt and when they do adapt you end up pumping money in this case potentially billions of dollars into local communities around New York City, though people who get a raise in salary go to local stores, they buy more at the local businesses so you’re really creating a trigger that will help our small businesses.”

Mr. Stringer unveiled a report on Monday that said boosting the minimum wage from $8–it will be $9 statewide by the end of 2015–will generate $115 million a week in new wages, increasing the spending power of New Yorkers. The analysis, however, did not examine how businesses would cope with the sudden hike and whether workers would have to be laid off to meet the new requirements.

20 comments:

georgetheatheist said...

If the businesses, according to Stringer, can "adapt" with $13.13 and thereby oodles of $$$ can be "pumped" back into the economy, why not have them adapt at $23.13, or 33.13, etc.? Hey, even better, why don't we all throw bricks through store windows and break all that glass? Glaziers and others will see their businesses jump. Vandalism stimulates the economy, no?

Anonymous said...

Not even 13/hour would do anything in this city. The only difference between making 13/hour and current minimum wage is the poverty guidelines. They are doing this to attempt to get people over the poverty guidelines.... meanwhile in NYC, these people will Still be broke. They will now be broke and not entitled to foodstamps and Medicaid. These people will still be struggling in NYC. You can not live comfortably in NYC if you don't make atleast 80k/year or you bought your house many years ago or are living in your original rent stabilized apartment that you got many many years ago.

Deke DaSilva said...

Mr. Stringer unveiled a report on Monday that said boosting the minimum wage from $8–it will be $9 statewide by the end of 2015–will generate $115 million a week in new wages, increasing the spending power of New Yorkers.

How will this increase the spending power of New Yorkers?

Do business owners exist in a vacuum? They won't pass on the increase in the cost of labor to the consumer?

Was I the only one paying attention during macro and micro economics classes?

The analysis, however, did not examine how businesses would cope with the sudden hike and whether workers would have to be laid off to meet the new requirements.

Of course they're not going to examine this aspect, because most of the low-information registered Democrat tweeders are stupid, and have no idea about basic economic principles.

But hey, maybe that's another thing the Democrats can do - increase spending to educate our dumb Tweeders! Because the Tweeders probably think money grows on trees, and if you increase the education budget, it will have ZERO impact on their taxes!

Anonymous said...

Stringer knows all about how to make jobs. Given the 59 staff members he had as BP might have even eclipsed the Queens BPs staff by 2 or almost 3 times as many people.

http://nypost.com/2009/07/29/scotts-useless-second-stringer/

Anonymous said...

What a scintillating economics lesson from a man who twice opened a saloon in NYC and went bust leaving a trail of unpaid bills including rent.

Anonymous said...

It's all about greed. Many, many businesses can afford to pay their workers more, contribute to a 401k plan, provide paid sick and days and holidays and offer health care options.

They just won't because the prevailing attitude in NYC (especially Queens) is "Fuck you, I got mine!"

Anonymous said...

Liberals are shit for brains fools. For every employee getting a $5 raise you will lose an employee, so the "billions of dollars" being "pumped into the economy" is bullshit. You are merely trasnsferring it from one pocket to another, from the businesses which would spend it to the employees who still have a job.

Freaking economic basket cases.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget that the employers will now be paying payroll tax on $13 instead of $8. Their workers comp policies will increase too. It isn't just an additional $5/hr for the employers.

Mike Francesa said...

Employers won't fire anyone because management is too lazy to do real work. They can barely manage to begin with.

Anonymous said...

Liberalism always begets more liberalism.

I love the tandem of this move and the effective obliteration of our southern border.

I wish to thank all Democrats and RINOs for what they have done to the United States. Heck of a job, lefties.

Joe Moretti said...

First off, any state that has raised their minimum wage, did not see any "lay-offs" or any negative effects as certain people what you to think. In fact the economy did better in those places because more money was being pumped into it.

As far as New York, $13/hour is nothing considering the high cost of living. In reality the minimum wage in NYC should be in the $20-25 mark and that really is not that much.

Common sense, everyone is better off when people make a good living wage, period.

Keeping people down is destructive to a society, which has been proven over and over again.

Anonymous said...

Whatever Joe. You've obviously never run a business and have no idea the dredge who come in for these jobs. They barely work! They don't deserve $3 an hour, never mind $13. I'm seriously considering firing them all if this passes. Time to go Galt if the city keeps stealing from me like this.

Mike Francesa said...

The funniest thing here with people bashing liberals is that liberals and conservatives both accept Keynesian economics. Ask anyone to definite liberal or conservative and they probably couldn't tell you except for someone who believes the opposite of what they do.

Enjoy being puppets.

Anonymous said...

None of the minimum wage workers in my store need another dime. They're all fat as hell. No self respecting individual would let themselves go like that, so they don't deserve more money either. And nobody who needs money would waste so much on Kentucky Fried Chicken. Their belly is like a $5k savings account.

Anonymous said...

Nice try, Mike, but I think most conservatives would lean much more toward Friedman or Rand than Keynes. And today's liberals adhere pretty closely to Marx anyway.

Also, there's more to conservatism than economics.

But of course we're all puppets, whether we like the Tea Party or Occupy, Rand Paul or Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz or Elizabeth Warren, right Mike? Only you have the great wisdom to see through it all.

Though I note that you address neither government-mandated wage increases nor the surge in illegal immigration that I alluded to in the post that seems to have prompted your comment. Please grant us puppets your wisdom on these matters so we may see the light.

Dunce.

Mike Francesa said...

Dunce-

Pleased to meet you although I'm sorry your parents named you that. Seeing as the post was about the minimum wage I figured it was an economic issue. I hope I have assisted you in putting two and two together. I've been told that it is hard for some people to do that.

ron s said...

Pretty sad that a discussion about trying to get people a raise from 9 dollars to 10, 11, 12, 13 etc. so that full time workers don't need to live in their car or work 16 hours a day is ridiculed.
Please explain why people who cook your food, clean your plates or sweep your garbage 40 hours or more a week should not get more than 18,000 per year.
Apparently the main response is to insult them-calling them fat, lazy pigs blah blah. My guess is that many of the people posting would qualify in those categories as well.
Maybe you should remember when you were struggling yourself, or maybe you never did........

Joe Moretti said...

Anonymous said...

Whatever Joe. You've obviously never run a business and have no idea the dredge who come in for these jobs. They barely work! They don't deserve $3 an hour, never mind $13. I'm seriously considering firing them all if this passes. Time to go Galt if the city keeps stealing from me like this.

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Maybe you should not be running a business since according to you you hire dredge. There are plenty of good people out there, you just seem to be hiring assholes, which then says something about the boss.

francis said...

I was able to pull myself up by my bootstraps ron. And my boots didn't even have straps! All it took was hard work and perseverance. Now you want take my hard earned dollars and give some rich kid a free ride in college so the Vallones get their name on something and take away my freedom and make me a slave by deciding how much I have to pay my employees? Why don't you just kill me while you're at it. Those fat lazy bums each have a BMW. The poor don't bike or take the bus, the gentrifiers do. The poor don't suffer unless they're lazy. Don't make me suffer because some fat bums are lazy.

Anonymous said...

Joe sometimes there's crap work to do, and only the dredge are interested, at any price. The 'good people' you think are out there are smart enough to start their own business, so they don't have to do the crap work, and can hire the dredge to do it instead.

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