When did the mythology that the Rich provide jobs for the poor out of the goodness of thier hearts arise?

Raise the minimum wage, and inflation hits. minimum wage is a NO/Low skill salary, designed for entry level jobs. Anyone who makes minimum wage after working anyplace for any length of time is either not trying or incapable of gaining the skills needed. Many places offer more than minimum wage rates even to non skilled person simply because of the labor market. Fewer workers availabe=higher wages to entice those workder to certain jobs. Increase minimum wage, and fewer people will be hired because employers will cut back as much as possible to offset expenses. Also,raising minimum wage means that those who make more will either be cheated because their skilled labor is now being paid no or only a little more than the unskilled person, or they will have to be paid more,driving up costs of production for the product, leading to higher prices. For example. Company A produces widgits. Paul joined the company 10 years ago, at $5 dollars an hour, In ten years, because he's become a good widgit maker, his salary has increased to $12 an hour(not including other benefits). Jack, a high school dropout joins Company A. Because the minimum wage is now $9 an hour, he is paid only 3 dollars less than a person whose productivity is at least double his own. As far as training people for good paying jobs, that's personal decisions. People that want good paying jobs have to do more than wait for the position. they have to actively seek out the education and practical skills. As far as the factory thing. Of COURSE factory owners don't provide jobs out of the goodness of their hearts. They provide it to make money, and lots of it. Because they have the resources and management skills to set up a factory, and they are taking the financial risks(say that the widgit market falls off and after spending $100 million, they have to close), they are also entitled to financial gain. By opening the factory, they employ dozens to hundreds of people, from unskilled minimum wage labor to high salary management. They will of course pay as little as they can get away with. The employees in turn will do what they can to get as high a salary as possible. thus labor unions. And the more skilled a person is, the more influence they have on setting their salary. Note also it's those fat cats paying the bulk of the taxes today, even with tax shelters. Your minimum wage employee will pay no taxes, assuming they have no second job or other income. The government has traditionally been lousy at providing goods and services. look at the former USSR for examples in how "planning" works. The function of government is to play referee. Make sure companies don't cheat, intimidate employees, use unfair trade practices, etc. But when government does more than that, our economy goes south.

Tahuti, there ARE a few, Warren Buffet comes to my mind. But for every Warren Buffet there are dozens of Leona Hensley's. They are folks who would exploit their workers to the Nth degree, underpay them as much as feasibly possible and then sit there and tell them "Look, I GAVE you a job. I didn't have to do that, you know. So, you OWE me your loyalty." They seem to think that the pittance which they pay their employees makes those employees their personal slaves and servants. Those employees are not entitled to be justly rewarded for the work that they do to enrich the business owner. We have ALREADY seen it with this 700 billion dollar bail out. SOME companies have grabbed the money and instead of doing what was intended, LOAN it out, are instead, using that money to BUY up other companies and put them out of business. As I see it, it's the same old "business as usual" for them. Grab what they can get and screw everyone else. "What's in it for ME?" and THAT is all that is important to them. Brightest Blessings, Raji the Green Witch

Since when did the rich provide jobs out of the goodness of their own heart? The rich get rich because they mostly provide a service or product that has value to people which they are willing to pay for. Where do you get the mythology that the economy will run itself and improve if you take away the incentive of earning profits from those that want to start businesses? The economy will not improve if you raise the minimum wage it will simply make everything more expensive. Do you want to pay $7 for a big mac because they have to pay the guy who works there $18 an hour? Minimum wage is an entry level job that is use as a stepping stone for better jobs. You talk about demand, but you don't understand it. People end up getting payed more, because there are more businesses than there are jobs and the businesses compete to pay more so they can get the people they need. You simply can't create an artificial scheme to raise wages or improve standards that goes against the law of supply and demand. What will happen is what happened with the recent mortgage crash, ---in which the basic idea was to let poor people live in nice houses too--- until it came to the part when it came down to them paying for it (not to mention it created an artificial price bubble which skyrocketed home prices). Its a nice idea but it just doesn't work, 1+1 must equal 2 or its gonna come down sooner or later.