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Your utopian worldview has come up against the reality of 18k people being out of work.

“We are going to increase minimum wage so you can have a livable wage!”

“Yay!…wait now I have no wages. Why didn’t this work like you said?”



> “Yay!…wait now I have no wages. Why didn’t this work like you said?”

It did. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/california-minimum...

"Though in the same month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed California had approximately 750,000 fast food jobs, roughly 11,000 more than when the higher minimum wage law took effect"

"The Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at UC Berkeley compared Glassdoor job posts and online food menu prices two weeks before the minimum wage raise and 2 weeks after. It found that wages increased by 18%, employment numbers remained stable and menu prices increased by only 3 to 7%, or 15 cents on a $4 burger."

Employment numbers remained stable, which is great, meaning the 18k people now are employed at other places at at least 20-25% wage increase. I will repeat it again: If a business can't afford to pay its workers, the business shouldn't exist.


In Europe we manage to pay fast food workers pretty well, including 5 weeks of paid vacation. Minor part timers earn a bit less but still good. And people can still afford burgers.

Fast food places have to compete with strong unions jobs like grocery stores as well.


Unfortunately Europe has stagnant growth and facing population collapse.

Of course you can offer an easy life when you are burning reserves and ignoring the future.


> Unfortunately Europe has stagnant growth and facing population collapse.

Unfortunately our US counterparts think "growth" means getting obese and dying younger than us:

- https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/ (48-th place in longevity, not bad, almost as good as Albania, one of the poorest and least developed countries in Europe that's not even in the European Union)

And being much much unhappier than us: https://data.worldhappiness.report/table (24-th place, not bad for people so invested in being #1).

I think where the US does shine is in obesity ratings, that's where we see the real meaning of "growth": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_obesity_r...

> Of course you can offer an easy life when you are burning reserves and ignoring the future.

You mean burning calories and looking forward to pension age? The first one Americans need more of, and the second one, sadly, not many Americans live to see.


You're right, we should let the rich get richer.




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