Minimum Wage Needs to Change

Introduction

One of the most talked about subjects in the U.S economy is the topic of minimum wage. With president Obama working to increase the minimum wage to 10.10$ per hour people, both economists and politicians alike, have been debating whether or not raising the bar is a smart idea. At a time when the country the country’s inflation continues to rise at a steady pace and Americans are constantly working to feed their families, some economists know that a raise in the minimum wage would help elevate some of the difficulty. The last time the federal minimum wage was raised was in July of 2009, where rose from 6.55$ to 7.25$. However there are plenty of reasons as to why the wage should be raised. Some may not think it, but raising the federal wage could very well assist the U.S with some of its largest economic problems; the increasing standard of living in the U.S, the recession in the economy, and even the ever inflating U.S national debt.

For the Good of Americans

The United States is home to nearly 317 million people to this date, with nearly 50 percent of them working on minimum wage jobs. That’s a lot of people working long hours every day for jobs that do not or barely pay them enough to feed themselves and their families. However, the rise of minimum wage would make plenty of jobs. The current unemployment rate in the U.S is 6.7 percent; the lowest it has been since president Obama took office. Most of this 6.7 percent is made up of teenagers and the middle aged who are looking for a second job to support their families. This is a demographic that would not settle for 7.50 an hour, even for part-time jobs, and the small pay discourages other groups of new workers to stay away from those jobs. Some of thes...

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...t. This is known as “trickle-down” economics which is “an economic idea which states that decreasing marginal and capital gains - especially for corporations, investors and entrepreneurs - can stimulate production in the overall economy. According to trickle-down theory proponents, this stimulus leads to economic growth and wealth creation that benefits everyone, not just those who pay the lower tax rates.”

Works Cited

• http://www.raisetheminimumwage.com/pages/qanda

• http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2013/12/31/us-population-2014-317-million-and-71-billion-in-the-world

• http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

• http://www.learnvest.com/2012/10/how-raising-the-minimum-wage-would-help-the-economy-123/

• http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/great-patriotic-war/pdf/economy.pdf

• http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/trickledowntheory.asp