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What we are witnessing is the effects of too many workers and not enough jobs. Not on just an American level but at the global level. We are being kicked down the rung to compete with the overseas sweatshops. The jobs that can't be outsourced are being filled with cheap immigrant labor. The jobs problem is driving down wages is driving wages up in places like china and mexico, so that's good.
Spot on. The way to solve these issues is with increased demand for jobs, not mandated higher wages. The market will solve the labor cost issue when there aren't people out there willing to work for $7/hr. Wages will naturally go up.
Spot on. The way to solve these issues is with increased demand for jobs, not mandated higher wages. The market will solve the labor cost issue when there aren't people out there willing to work for $7/hr. Wages will naturally go up.
The market does not "solve" this issue on its own. You can look at our own history for that. When railroad workers wanted more money for the rough and dangerous work they were doing, the companies recruited in China for people who would accept wages that were half the amount.
I live outside of Seattle where some of this "nonsense" regarding $15 minimum wages started (as far as I know).
The issue is that it's becoming ever increasingly expensive just to afford housing here. I don't even own a home, I own a 1860 sq ft condo and it's valued at around $600k. 1500 sq ft "starter" homes go for about the same price. Unless you live in SF, LA, Boston, DC or NYC spending $600k for a ho-hum condo is crazy. Single individuals making the $9-12/hour simply couldn't afford real estate where I live and most couples with the same wages couldn't either. So people advocating $15 minimum wages aren't looking to simply spend more on just anything. In many cases they're looking to just remain solvent in our ever increasing COL.
That's the rationale where I live and it's certainly a valid concern. However like what previous posters have said, I'm not sure how it would work out on the employer's side of things or the ramifications on the whole. Going to $15 is a huge jump. I feel like it sorta came out of nowhere. I can only imagine doing anything different would be better if it was done gradually.
But what I am tired of is vilifying and politicizing the issue.. that somehow wanting to make our greatest cities more affordable and housing fairer is somehow just a "leftist" issue. It's not... in fact, in many ways what's happening in Seattle is the kinda issue that Trump would love to talk about. One of the YUGE (that's "huge" Trump style!) issues Seattle is facing is that it's literally being bought up by a ton of cash-heavy Chinese investors trying to hide their wealth from their Communist government. Up until recently the Chinese were mostly focused on Vancouver, CA (although there had been growing interest in Seattle from the get go). Then they implemented a hefty foreign investor tax and it's forcing the Chinese to look at Vancouver's American neighbor just a few hours south of the border: Seattle. So what's happening is that the competition for housing, any housing, isn't even necessarily local competition. In a way it makes a more solid argument for Trumps position: our jobs are leaving the country, but our land is foreign owned.
Complicated issue.
But the core issue is HOUSING COST. That issue would be best addressed directly by, first and foremost, BUILDING MORE HOUSING! 2. They should also consider taxing foreign buyers as Vancouver did.
Raising the minimum wage isn't going to solve the housing problem. If there isn't enough housing, people at the bottom of the wage scale are always going to be priced out....so all you do is create inflation.
But the core issue is HOUSING COST. That issue would be best addressed directly by, first and foremost, BUILDING MORE HOUSING! 2. They should also consider taxing foreign buyers as Vancouver did.
Raising the minimum wage isn't going to solve the housing problem. If there isn't enough housing, people at the bottom of the wage scale are always going to be priced out....so all you do is create inflation.
We're at historical lows for housing starts - equivalent to the level of housing starts during the 81-83 recession.
I have to assume that housing is not being built because it doesn't pay off. I think we take for granted how "good" the housing bubble was, and also how long it was. We now know what happens when you take away those easy loans.
We're at historical lows for housing starts - equivalent to the level of housing starts during the 81-83 recession.
I have to assume that housing is not being built because it doesn't pay off. I think we take for granted how "good" the housing bubble was, and also how long it was. We now know what happens when you take away those easy loans.
But the point is, you have to address the housing issue directly. If housing doesn't pay, then why not? What can be done to make it pay? But none of that is being discussed, at least not by the minimum wage advocates, because they don't care about any of that. It's not part of their narrow agenda. I know here in California, a lot of it has to do with red tape, environmental rules, and the ability of a few NIMBYs to block new housing in their neighborhoods. I suspect some of the same things are at play in Seattle.
Raising the minimum wage is a band aid that doesn't address any of that. Rules and red tape are invisible to average people....but they have very real effects.
Joel Kotkin (and he's a Democrat, by the way) talks about how this process works. I suspect a lot of the same types of laws are at work in Seattle:
But the core issue is HOUSING COST. That issue would be best addressed directly by, first and foremost, BUILDING MORE HOUSING! 2. They should also consider taxing foreign buyers as Vancouver did.
Raising the minimum wage isn't going to solve the housing problem. If there isn't enough housing, people at the bottom of the wage scale are always going to be priced out....so all you do is create inflation.
I think if you reread you'll note that I'm not entirely convinced it would.
Building more housing is easier said than done here. Unlike places like Texas where development can just keep spreading far and wide, we're constrained by Puget Sound to the west and the Cascade range to the east. Total distance between the two is about 40-50 miles, but in those 50 miles you still have topographic challenges like smaller mountains and lakes.
The economy and construction is exploding, but developers are focusing on the coin-laden high tech workers, not wage earners. Adding in the cost of transportation even the outskirts become expensive.
On the note of a foreign investor tax... YES. If these people want to come in, live here and contribute to our society that's great, but the issue is that a lot of them are just parking their cash, with an idea that maybe they or their children will come... eventually. I'm not in favor of empty houses so I would support the tax.
I think if you reread you'll note that I'm not entirely convinced it would.
Building more housing is easier said than done here. Unlike places like Texas where development can just keep spreading far and wide, we're constrained by Puget Sound to the west and the Cascade range to the east. Total distance between the two is about 40-50 miles, but in those 50 miles you still have topographic challenges like smaller mountains and lakes.
The economy and construction is exploding, but developers are focusing on the coin-laden high tech workers, not wage earners. Adding in the cost of transportation even the outskirts become expensive.
On the note of a foreign investor tax... YES. If these people want to come in, live here and contribute to our society that's great, but the issue is that a lot of them are just parking their cash, with an idea that maybe they or their children will come... eventually. I'm not in favor of empty houses so I would support the tax.
As I said, I am actually somewhat supportive of the tax on foreign ownership. I understand a lot of these units are sitting vacant in Vancouver.
Otherwise, I think you simply must find ways to build more housing. (Yes, I get it. That's easier to do in Texas than Seattle...but based on my experience in California, it's like we don't even try any more. We just shrug and say "oh it's too hard to build enough housing, so we won't even try". I think it's one of those BS excuses that has a kernel of truth to it....just enough to convince people we can't do better....but it's still 80% BS) As I said, part of the reason why it doesn't pay to build housing for people with lower incomes is related to zoning laws, etc. Also, new housing has always gone to richer people. But if you don't build new housing, it means you have rich people competing with the poor and middle class for the same old housing stock. So not building housing doesn't help. It just means rich people get the existing housing stock and the poor and middle class are completely priced out and/or live crammed into very substandard housing.
But the bottom line in all of this, the high cost of living issue in big cities is driven by housing costs. Raising the minimum wage doesn't go to the heart of the matter. But at least we are now talking about the right issue.
And when I don't have the money, I am forced to cut back on my purchases. See how that works?
Ill come to your house and take what i need..............................lol.
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