A universal minimum wage?!?

Question

would people agree that this would stem a lot of suffering? i know there would be problems concerning g.d.p etc, but in an ideal universal utopia i think this would be a beautiful economic success?!

Answer 1

You said it...it's utopic.

You can't have a universal minimum wage when the cost of living is so different in each country. It's bad enough having the same minimum wage for all areas of one country for that matter.

Answer 2

Impractical, and some economies are not efficient enough to support that kind of wage. Plus, your a poor country probably should crush most union strikes since they do no good for economic development. Universal minimum wage is a noble idea with good intentions, but its useless when your a poor country trying to build up your economy. Need to be competitive as a poor nation to build up the economy,. and their 500,000 more workers willing to work for that wage even if 20 cents an hour. The people call it exploitation paying 20 cents an hour, but their 300,000 workers in that area be willing to work for less, and a minimum wage is impractical doesn't make sense. Finally, im a pragmagist here and somtimes the best job is having a job.

Answer 3

Sure, it would work fine as long as the "universal" minimum was set as equal to the prevailing minimum wage in the poorest country in the world. That way it wouldn't hurt them, and it would be completely ignored by the rest of the world where wages are already higher anyway.

Our learned scholar above neglected a citation concerning the only important fact here, which is that NO, you cannot try to enforce the same minimum wage in Bangladesh as in the US or Luxembourg. The reality is that wages are based on the average productivity of the country, and any attempts to ignore that fact would cause severe problems and market distortion. You can't ignore reality. The ONLY solution for poor countries to have higher wages, is for the economic productivity of those countries to increase. Which is something you can't just legislate with wishful thinking.

Answer 4

There are arguments on both sides.

In theory, a wage floor should lead to fewer jobs, especially entry-level, menial service jobs. Of course these are the jobs in which employees are most powerless and vulnerable to exploitation, so we might have principled reasons for interfering with the market in just those cases. On the other hand, intervention might perversely create more misery and exploitation.

In practice, the evidence is mixed, and not especially exciting for either camp: modest changes in wage floors just don't seem to make all that much difference either way, and the social justice aims that motivate a wage floor can probably be achieved more efficiently by other means.

An example: the related idea of an unconditional basic income is not especially utopian, nor is it particularly controversial: Milton Friedman was no socialist, but he endorsed a flat tax scheme that would essentially guarantee a basic income, without the specific distortions of (de facto sector-specific) wage floors.

Answer 5

I'm not sure what you want to know here? Minimum wages in Canada (where it varies by Province, btw) and the US are roughly similar, a but higher in Canada. How is that connected to medical systems? Or are you just asking whether one system is better than the other overall? I happen to think that Canada's medical system provides better care for more people than the US system. That is clearly shown by every study on medical costs and outcomes. The US spends roughly twice the amount per capita, and yet has lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, and is worse in almost very category of health measurable. So Canada's system, flaws and all, is better value for money. But what does THAT have to do with minimum wages?

Answer 6

As with most utopian ideas, in the real world it would actually have the exact opposite effect of that intended. In other words, it would likely cause more suffering rather than stem suffering.

How? For example, let's set a minimum price for hamburgers. Let's set it at $5 so people who own burger shops will do very well. What do you think will actually happen to the number of hamburgers sold? Do you think it would stay the same? Do you think that such a price would actually help or hurt hamburger shops who sell $1 hamburgers?

Answer 7

If we are talking about utopia...then yes!

A minimum wage that provides for all needs and paid for a good mornings work. This is then followed by an afternoon of philosophising and an evening of rest and recreation.

This is then followed by waking up. Nice idea though

Answer 8

I think it is a matter of time before this happens.Large multinational companies make large profit taking advantage of currency difference but they are also creating one single global economy in the process.I think when a level of stability is created in the majority of underdeveloped countries and their governments develop a sense of social responsibility a universal minimum wage is the logical next step.

Answer 9

You need to take some simple economics courses before recommending such poor policy. If you can't understand why something so simple would be so devastating, you should seriously spend some time learning. The only worse strategy I can think of that I heard in hear recently was printing up money for the poor.

Answer 10

Since you have posted on the Economics section:

Inflation, inflation, inflation.

P.S. we don't live in an ideal world.

That asside, it would not make a great deal of difference over the long term. Inflation and comparitive wages would negate any benefits.