Why do Republicans say if the minimum wage is raised then prices will go up?

Question

I'm not an economist, but the minimum wage has stayed the same for 10 years but the prices for um EVERYTHING has stadily gone up. Compare going to the movies 10 years ago and going to the movies today. A BIG difference. So why say that if the wage is raised things are going to be more expensive. They are going to be expensive anyway. So why not just give the people a raise???

Answer 1

From the beginning the Republicans opposed the minimum wage when it first appeared in the 1930's as part of the New Deal.

So whats makes it any different today they still oppose workers receiving a minimum wage increase. I have in past worked at minimum wage we got increase but prices did not go up.

Funny Republicans can justify tax breaks for the rich but can't support minimum wage.

Answer 2

The "minimum wage" was never meant to be a "living wage." It was meant to be a wage for people who were working part-time and living at home, such as teenagers working at fast-food restaurants.
The reason prices will go up if the minimum wage is raised is really very simple: private companies rarely absorb the added cost of doing business, they pass it on to the customer. That's Economics 101.
There are many reasons why prices have gone up in the last 10 years, aside from wages. In most businesses, wages are not even the greatest cost involved.
If you want to earn more money, the best thing you can do is learn a new skill; finish high school, go to college and learn a trade. Education and hard work are the keys to success, not whining to the government to take care of your every need. Politicians of all stripes seem to have forgotten that fact.

Answer 3

No one makes minimum wage for more than about 90 days, if you're worth anything at all.

The reason the Dems cry about a minimum wage increase during every election year is because UNION wages are tied to the minimum wage (but a certain number of dollars/hour OVER it). Dems get a ton of money from Union dues, which members have to pay without any say about where it goes.

You use MOVIE TICKETS as proof that things are more expensive now???? What would a computer with an 80 GB hard drive, 512 MB of RAM and a Pentium 2.5 GHz processor have cost 10 years ago, if you could get it? $7,500? $10,000? Now what do they cost?

The 'bundle of goods' that make up the CPI consist of a lot more than just movie tickets.

Answer 4

The price rise would be even worse if the minimum wage went up. That is a simple concept and I cannot understand why some people find the concept so difficult. If you had a factory and energy costs went up 10% you might raise the price on a widget from $1.00 to $1.10. If your labor costs also went up 10% because of a mandate then the total change would be 20% or $1.20 for each widget. Is that so hard to understand?

Whether raising the minimum wage is a good idea is another matter.

Answer 5

You ought to take an economics or business course in school. The simple answer is that wages are an expense in a business. The way that businesses compensate for those expenses is buy adjusting costs of those goods that they produce. Labor is not the only expense that a business has to consider, it is only one part, so by raising the minimum wage would only increase the costs to produce those goods. Therefore the only thing that the business can do to offset that increase in expense is to increase what they charge for their product. So if you wan to pay more then by all means go ahead and raise the minimum wage, or get an education so that you won't have to worry about it anymore!

Answer 6

If the minimum wage goes up, the cost of doing business goes up and businesses have a reason to raise the price of their goods. Certainly, many would raise their prices to more than compensate for the expense of a higher minimum wage. If a business is given a reason to raise prices, they will and then some. Oil companies are a good example of that.

Answer 7

well what you stated in your question is the perfect example of wage driven inflation. if you look back 10 years ago the highest priced actress was Demi Moore at 12 million a picture. today the highest priced actress is Julie Roberts at 20 million. so to recoup that money must raise movie tickets prices. if you pay any one more money to continue to make a profit you must raise prices.

Answer 8

If McDonald's has to pay all its employees a dollar more an hour, they just add that dollar to the cost of a bad hamburger. This is true of all companies using minimum wage workers.