More handpicked essays just for you.
Karl marx analysis of capitalist society
Karl marx analysis of capitalist society
Karl marx analysis of capitalist society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Karl Marx’ capitalism theory goes hand in hand with the minimum wage issue. Declining wages and growing inequality are the world’s central economic challenges. In modern day America, where the cost of living is constantly on a gradual increase, the question arises: Should the minimum wage be increased? After doing some research, reading works by authors such as: Jordan Weissmann, Jared Bernstein, and Brad Plumer. I have come to the conclusion that, although increasing the minimum wage will have various effects on diverse demographics, increasing the minimum wage will ultimately benefit our nation. How would raising the minimum wage affect employers? On first thought, raising the minimum wage sounds like a no-brainer, but after looking at …show more content…
Although it may seem as if raising the minimum wage will be detrimental to the success of employers, According to Brad Plumer, chief editor for The Washington Post, there are many ways firms can work around this proposition. Plumer states that “There are lots of possible ways that companies can adjust to modest wage hikes besides hiring fewer people,” He proposes ideas for employers such as: cutting back on hours, reducing wages of other high paid workers, raising prices, and settling for fewer profits. In the end, it really comes down to the companies being greedy, and the nation accepting their greed. The ideas proposed by Plumer are high plausible, and would greatly benefit the lower, and middle class of society. The only thing holding employers back from this is that their profit margin will …show more content…
Raising the minimum wage sounds like a great proposal for the lower and middle classes, more money! Why not? Because people lose jobs. According to research conducted by Jared Bernstein, a fair argument presented by those who don’t want the minimum wage increased is that about 500,000 workers would lose their jobs. In actuality, that is about 0.3% of the total employment in the United States, which comes out to about 500,000 out of 16.5 million people who would lose jobs. On the other hand, he states that “It estimates that 16.5 million low-wage workers would directly benefit from the proposed increase to $10.10 by the second half of 2016,” He also states that 900,000 people in the U.S. would be lifted above the poverty line; this can benefit the U.S. internally and externally. Internally people will be more content with their wages and how the economy is working, and externally the U.S. will have 900,000 less people in poverty which will make our country look better as a
Poverty continues to grow in America. The average minimum wage in the United States is $7.35 an hour- far too low in today’s society. Key expenses, for example, gas and housing prices, have gone up significantly since the minimum wage was last changed in 2007 (Wagner 52). The laws creating the minimum wage were intended to improve the standard of living and decrease poverty. Raising minimum wage is a vital step in decreasing poverty and giving every family the opportunity to survive and succeed. Millions of hard-working Americans are below the poverty line and need an increase in pay. Minimum wage must be raised because it will diminish poverty and assist the working class to support their families.
The minimum wage was, as it should be, a living wage, for working men and women ... who are attempting to provide for their families, feed and clothe their children, heat their homes, [and] pay their mortgages. The cost-of-living inflation adjustment since 1981 would put the minimum wage at $4.79 today, instead of the $4.25 it will reach on April 1, 1991. That is a measure of how far we have failed the test of fairness to the working poor.” (Burkhauser 1)
Well, raising the minimum wage has both the pros and cons. Still, the fact that increasing the minimum wage nationwide would increase millions of workers’ earnings is deniable. I suppose that’s why some people advocate raising the minimum wage will grow the economy for everyone. In 2014, the president of the United States, Obama, called on the current Congress to raise the national minimum wage, which proves that Obama actually supports raising the minimum wage. ‘February 2014 Congressional Budget Office Report The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income is the latest attempt to do so, in this response to Members of Congress with respect to an increase in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour.’
Imagine working under poor conditions for over 40 hours a week to afford basic human necessities only to remain nothing more than a cog in a corporal machine seen unworthy of livable wages. While this may seem unrealistic, it proves as reality for many lower class Americans. Minimum wage has seen a drastic decline in relation to the inflation of living costs, an issue addressed in Lew Prince’s, “The American Dream Needs a Fair Minimum Wage”. In the article, Prince, a business owner, states, “... in 1979, the minimum wage was $2.90 -- that would be $9.50, adjusted for inflation in 2014 dollars”. Even with this information, many americans above the poverty level line argue against an increase in wages. Although opinions often
Minimum wage is a topic that has been popping up since the 1980s. From whether we should lower it, or even raise it, but now in the 2000s minimum wage has been the center of attention more than ever. There are two sides to this topic of minimum wage; whether it creates more jobs or does not create jobs. Those who argue that raising minimum wage will create more jobs will have a rebuttal which is that it does not only cause the loss of jobs but that it would make things much worse and vice versa for those arguing raising minimum wage will cause loss of jobs. There will be two authors representing opposite views, Nicholas Johnson supporting minimum wage will not cost jobs with his article “ Evidence Shows Raising Minimum Wage Hasn’t Cost Jobs”
Many people against raising the minimum wage create arguments such as, “it will cause inflation”, or, “ it will result in job loss.” Not only are these arguments terribly untrue, they also cause a sense of panic towards the majority working-class. Since 1938, the federal minimum wage has been increased 22 times. For more than 75 years, real GDP per capita has consistently increased, even when the wage has been
Throughout the decade, a continuous firing debate still remains, whether to raise the minimum wage or keep as it is. People believe that raising the minimum wage can hurt the economy. More will lose jobs than gain. Though all are true, the amount of poverty shown throughout the decades are jaw dropping. That is in fact one of the leading factors. As there is yin and yang, the demand for a higher minimum wage is no coincidence or selfishness as others perceive as is. The poverty shown throughout the decade is deadly prominent. Minimum wage should be raised as people are not gaining enough money compared to the past, despite with more education, too many low quality jobs, “in active” unemployment are outcasted from the statistics, and finding jobs is more difficult than it was decades ago.
When it comes to the working class, minimum wage is such a debatable topic. From about two dollars an hour waiting tables, to about seven working in retail, people are wondering why they don’t get paid more by the hour for all the work they put into their jobs day by day. Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of Nickel and Dimed investigates the realities of minimum wage jobs, and with using her work and other resources, the effects physically, mentally, and financially can be determined. Also, the perspective of society in general when it comes to the peculiar topic can be evaluated.
Gitterman, Daniel P. “Remaking A Bargain: The Political Logic Of The Minimum Wage In The United States.” Poverty And Public Policy 5.1 (2013): 3-36. EconLit. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
Small businesses operate with little capital and net profit margin. Opponents argue the increase of the minimum wage affect the small business owners the most because they have a hard time paying employees. The oppositions believe increasing the minimum wage creates a market distortion (“Federal Minimum Wage”). It means the government intervention in raising the minimum wage causes a higher price floor that defines as the minimum price for the employees’ service. Because of a higher price floor, it reduces the employment opportunities and business profit. For instance, according to Mark Wilson’s “The Negative Effects of Minimum Wage Laws”, he writes about a study conducted by Barry Hirsch and his co-authors about the methods of how employers adjust to a newly imposed minimum wage. In their study, employers cushion the impact of the minimum wage increase by “requiring better attendance, insisting that job duties are completed faster, imposing additional task on workers, minimizing hours worked with better scheduling, and terminating poor performers quickly.” In addition, businesses try to push the rising cost to consumers, which result in increased competition from imported goods. This makes them less competitive. The negative side of increasing the minimum wage affects employers, employees, and customers since study suggest every dollar bump to minimum wage workers come from the business owners’ or clients’ pockets; in addition, employers impose more job responsibilities to
There are indeed risks of raising the minimum wage, but the rewards outweigh those risks, so the minimum wage should be raised. Some people who are against this may say ...“But other economists say raising the minimum wage actually hurts the very people it's designed to help: One of the basic laws of economics is that if you raise the price of something, there will be less demand for it. In this case, if you raise the price of workers, the demand for workers will decline. That could mean companies cutting the hours of employees, laying them off, or hiring fewer workers in the future.”... Yes, it could hurt the people it is designed to help, but different states have done this and found the opposite to be true. With America’s still fragile economy we need a boost, a helping hand; And this could be it. So next time you go down to vote on a mayor or maybe even the next president, remember that raising the minimum wage is a good thing, and you should be supporting
Currently, in the United States, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 for the past six years; however, in 1938 when it first became a law, it was only $0.25. In the United States the federal minimum wage has been raised 22 times since 1938 by a significant amount due to changes in the economy. Minimum wage was created to help America in poverty and consumer power purchasing, but studies have shown that minimum wage increases do not reduce poverty. By increasing the minimum wage, it “will lift some families out of poverty, while other low-skilled workers may lose their jobs, which reduces their income and drops their families into poverty” (Wilson 4). When increasing minimum wage low-skilled, workers living in poor families,
Raising the minimum will end up hurting Americans more than helping them. The people that are for raising minimum wage are people who believe that increasing minimum wage can help those people who are unskilled and need an income they can live on. Yet, raising minimum wage would do the opposite and make employers have to fire people who earn minimum wage, because they can't afford the higher wages. People need to realize that increasing the minimum wage would hurt people more than help them. In the end increasing minimum wage would result in some people being let go, for the reason, businesses can't afford paying them minimum wage anymore.
On the other side of the argument Americans believe that with the increase of minimum wages it would help Americans out a lot more. One possible way that the increase in minimum wage may help an individual out is in the article Minimum wage Pros and Cons, “The Economic Policy Institute stated that a minimum wage increase from the current rate of $7.25 an hour to $10.10 would inject $22.1 billion net into the economy and create about 85,000 new jobs over a three-year phase-in period. Though this may be true, one problem
“Of course, nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages. … And to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.”