As someone who works in Finance its always an eye opener to read how few people understanding purchasing power and the economic forces which comes with higher minimum wages.
That said if you want to go the more socialistic route (not my stand point ...) sadly the best way is probably for the government to give out subsidies for lower earning households and to fund it from taxing the rich via a wealth tax or increased capital gains tax.
Again that comes with a load of other problems and is not a great idea but it's a better option than increasing the minimum wage level to an exorbitant amount
You realize this occurrs now, right? I was busy writing a check to the IRS for several thousand dollars after already paying $40K for the year. Meanwhile, my neice was planning a trip to Vegas with the "return" she got due to the Earned Income Credit
Most employers are small businesses and this would bankrupt them...You think an uneducated young person working as a construction laborer desrves 30.00 an hour? Ridiculous...
As someone who works in Finance its always an eye opener to read how few people understanding purchasing power and the economic forces which comes with higher minimum wages.
That said if you want to go the more socialistic route (not my stand point ...) sadly the best way is probably for the government to give out subsidies for lower earning households and to fund it from taxing the rich via a wealth tax or increased capital gains tax.
Again that comes with a load of other problems and is not a great idea but it's a better option than increasing the minimum wage level to an exorbitant amount
You realize this occurrs now, right? I was busy writing a check to the IRS for several thousand dollars after already paying $40K for the year. Meanwhile, my neice was planning a trip to Vegas with the "return" she got due to the Earned Income Credit
What would you buy with that extra 40k? A nicer boat?
But how will Jeff Bezos 'earn' his next 230 billions dollars if we expect living wages AND potentially a UBI for the citizenry?
The US has been, from day one, a relative paradise for unfettered capitalists and oligarchs. We find ourselves the ONLY modern industrialized economy in the entire world that fails to offer universal healthcare to our citizens.
We offer the most meager social safety net among industrialized countries, no universal benefits for employees, virtually no pensions, one of two national parties strives to destroy social security and medicare, and we allow our worst-off to live homeless and filthy on the streets.
Beyond that, culturally, we tend to encourage hatred toward those who have not made it in the American economy. There is an ugly cruelty underpinning our economy and governance that is clear to anybody willing to see.
I'm old and luckily (and much of it comes down to luck, for all of us) have done OK in the US, but knowing what I know now, I would have emigrated to a European country in my early adulthood if I could do it all again. They focus on their citizens, they built and maintain people-friendly infrastructure and public spaces, their citizens are guaranteed reasonable benefits and social safety net programs, they live longer and are more healthy than we are, and IMO their typical overall quality of life is better.
It breaks my heart that all of these things are true.