Seattle min wage $15, highest in nation

[Missourian]

The new minimum wage increase to $15/hour will inevitably result in large scale layoffs, and business shutdowns. There is no way some businesses can continue to operate, and generate profit with this increase.

Well now, the experiment is being made. So we will see if your prediction happens.

It's already happening O.R.

Everywhere I go I see fast food restaurants that are closed down and vacant.

"This Restaurant is Closed..."

Some of the biggest, best-known brands in fast food continue to struggle. QSR Magazine's Top 50 report recently spotlighted the 50 largest chains by 2011 systemwide revenue. The interesting thing: 19 of those 50 chains shrank last year.

"This Restaurant is Closed..." - In Photos: Fast-Food Wars: The 10 Big Chains That are Closing Restaurants - Forbes
​

 

[thereisnospoon]

Seattle will become the next Detroit. Businesses in the surrounding cities will all benefit from this silliness....

Many of the surrounding cities have already raised their minimum wage to $15. Yeah, it's still being fought in the courts.

Answer this question....Form where does the money come so that small business can pay the new mandated wage?

 

[Againsheila]

Prediction...by the end of the decade 75% of these jobs will be automated.

It's a simple cost/benefit equation.

The machines will be cheaper than paying a human.

These kinds of predictions and other the sky is falling predictions have been around for as long as I can remember, and that's about 40 years. Every time the minimum wage is raised, or raising it is discussed, the same old predictions arise. Yep. It's the end of civilization as we know it.

Do you also know what other prediction has been around for 40 years? That if we raise the minimum wage, things will be better for those people.

They never seem to get better though, do they? Care to venture a guess as to why?

Yeah, the minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation. In fact, it has the lowest spending power in history. You want to raise it to the spending power it had in 1968, you'd have to raise it a lot higher than $15.00.

 

[thereisnospoon]

For Sale in Seattle

$450,000
See Homes for Sale in America?s Most Walkable Cities | Zillow Blog

$1,100,000
Laurelhurst Real Estate & Laurelhurst Seattle WA Homes for Sale | Coldwell Banker

Seattle has some of the most restrictive land use and development regulations in the nation.
The cause of these high real estate prices( not value) is due to new urbanism and smart growth policies which curtailed the supply of available housing. With reduced supply and no reduction in demand cause RE prices to skyrocket well beyond the average middle class family or individual.
The thought process of smart growth was to reduce pollution and suburban sprawl.
Well the result was that middle class people began leaving Seattle for far flung exurban towns. Longer commutes by car are now the norm. With all those vehicles on the road for longer periods of time creates the very same pollution concerns that sparked the new urbansim craze.
These smart growth people don't care a lick about pollution or the environment. They are the elites who abhor the idea of individual home ownership. They cannot stand when towns on the outer rings of major cities grow as people move out of the city.

 

[thereisnospoon]

All that doom and gloom. Washington already has the highest minimum wage in the nation, and it's indexed for inflation. In all these years it hasn't led to the doom and gloom of inflation or job losses, why do you think this time it will?

You're looking at a jump from $9/hour to $15/hour. This is significant, and many small businesses will not be able to handle it. They can raise prices, but will be forced to shut down as folks will head out to the larger businesses with the lower prices. The larger businesses will simply lay off staff.

Which is a $3.00/hr net jump.

Hey genius. Nice try.
The wages and taxes have to be paid by the employer. In fact at $9 per hour, that employee costs that business almost twice that when taxes and insurance ( worker's comp, unemployment, disability) are factored in.
I ran a business. I did the some of the administrative work.

 

[Esmeralda]

The new minimum wage increase to $15/hour will inevitably result in large scale layoffs, and business shutdowns. There is no way some businesses can continue to operate, and generate profit with this increase.

Well now, the experiment is being made. So we will see if your prediction happens.

The new minimum wage increase to $15/hour will inevitably result in large scale layoffs, and business shutdowns. There is no way some businesses can continue to operate, and generate profit with this increase.

Well now, the experiment is being made. So we will see if your prediction happens.

It's already happening O.R.

Everywhere I go I see fast food restaurants that are closed down and vacant.

"This Restaurant is Closed..."

Some of the biggest, best-known brands in fast food continue to struggle. QSR Magazine's Top 50 report recently spotlighted the 50 largest chains by 2011 systemwide revenue. The interesting thing: 19 of those 50 chains shrank last year.

"This Restaurant is Closed..." - In Photos: Fast-Food Wars: The 10 Big Chains That are Closing Restaurants - Forbes
​

First, the closing of these restaurants is due to the economic recession.
Second, isn't it a good thing? The restaurants are serving food that is killing Americans, and at least making them sick and causing all kinds of health problems. Prepare some healthful food at home instead of relying on those places.
And finally, kids will find other types of jobs. I supported myself from the age of 17 and never spent one day working for a fast food restaurant.

 

[Missourian]

The new minimum wage increase to $15/hour will inevitably result in large scale layoffs, and business shutdowns. There is no way some businesses can continue to operate, and generate profit with this increase.

Well now, the experiment is being made. So we will see if your prediction happens.

Well now, the experiment is being made. So we will see if your prediction happens.

It's already happening O.R.

Everywhere I go I see fast food restaurants that are closed down and vacant.

"This Restaurant is Closed..."

Some of the biggest, best-known brands in fast food continue to struggle. QSR Magazine's Top 50 report recently spotlighted the 50 largest chains by 2011 systemwide revenue. The interesting thing: 19 of those 50 chains shrank last year.

"This Restaurant is Closed..." - In Photos: Fast-Food Wars: The 10 Big Chains That are Closing Restaurants - Forbes
​

First, the closing of these restaurants is due to the economic recession.
Second, isn't it a good thing? The restaurants are serving food that is killing Americans, and at least making them sick and causing all kinds of health problems. Prepare some healthful food at home instead of relying on those places.
And finally, kids will find other types of jobs. I supported myself from the age of 17 and never spent one day working for a fast food restaurant.

First, we're talking closings right up to present day...a fast food joint in my town closed the first of the year.

Second, good thing or not has nothing to do with it...this is a thread about economics, not nutrition.

Finally, that's not the reality, only wishful thinking on your part...teen unemployment for those actively seeking jobs is a whopping 19.1 percent:

The US unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent in April, but the rate for teens who want jobs is much higher, at 19.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

Unemployment rate falls, but teens get left behind - CSMonitor.com
​

 

[Zander]

The Statist argument is simple, we need the government to set minimum wages because evil capitalists will exploit the poor workers...booo hooo......

But only 0.8% of workers in Washington state earn the minimum wage. Seems to me that this is a "solution" to a non-existent problem....

 

[thereisnospoon]

So this is even for kids entering the workforce ?

More than 80% of those making minimum wage are now adults and most of those adults are upper 20's and 30's.

Link?

 

[Zander]

So this is even for kids entering the workforce ?

More than 80% of those making minimum wage are now adults and most of those adults are upper 20's and 30's.

Link?

Sounds like a made up number to me.

The most recent BLS stat are found here.....Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012

They show that Washington State has only 0.8% of workers earning the minumum wage. Of those workers approximately 80% are in the retail and hospitality/food services industry.

Another liberal solution in search of a problem......

 

[thereisnospoon]

Holy crap !

Neither of them would go over 150k here. Our $9 hr min wage buys a helluva lot more than your $15 hr min wage.

LMAO

And now you know why we want the minimum wage raised.

Who is "we"?
Speak only for yourself.
BTW, do you really think the price of a house inflated to some 5 to ten times its real value is any more affordable to a person who's wage went to fifteen bucks/hr?
No one could possibly be that naive.
In SEATAC. $15 per hour might get you 5 miles closer to work....From 60 to 55 miles that is.

 

[Zander]

So this is even for kids entering the workforce ?

More than 80% of those making minimum wage are now adults and most of those adults are upper 20's and 30's.

Link?

Yeah, it's a phony statistic...

From the link....

Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 21 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 3 percent of workers age 25 and over.

 

[Papageorgio]

Holy crap !

Neither of them would go over 150k here. Our $9 hr min wage buys a helluva lot more than your $15 hr min wage.

LMAO

And now you know why we want the minimum wage raised.

And you'll get more people traveling in to the city for work, increase traffic, then go home and spend the money in the suburbs like Des Moines, Lynnwood and Everett.

 

[thereisnospoon]

And now you know why we want the minimum wage raised.

Won't help, the pressure is way to high, the 450k house will simply go to 550k. More will move in, rents will rise and your 15 per hour will be $6 in reality.

Enjoy the higher rent and fewer jobs.

Again, we have the highest minimum wage in the nation and we sure as hell didn't lose jobs because of it, if anything we've grown much larger since we raised the mw and indexed it for inflation.

Yeah, things will go up, but everybody will be paying the difference, therefore it will be a small difference. You just don't want to pay an extra 50 cents for your Pizza, fine, don't order one.

"Don't order one"...Yeah. And there lies the problem.
Enough people will buy fewer pizzas to put the pizzaria owner in the position of having to let workers go, raise his prices or spend even more than the 60 or more hours working at his business.
" if anything we've grown much larger since we raised the mw"....First, what the hell is THAT supposed to mean?
Second, the Seattle min wage has been in effect for a relatively short period of time. So I am calling bullshit on your claim.
"indexed it for inflation."....Umm the rate of inflation has been under 3% for years.
The Seattle mandate nearly doubled the min wage.....And?

 

[Chuckt]

You're looking at a jump from $9/hour to $15/hour. This is significant, and many small businesses will not be able to handle it. They can raise prices, but will be forced to shut down as folks will head out to the larger businesses with the lower prices. The larger businesses will simply lay off staff.

Which is a $3.00/hr net jump.

Hey genius. Nice try.
The wages and taxes have to be paid by the employer. In fact at $9 per hour, that employee costs that business almost twice that when taxes and insurance ( worker's comp, unemployment, disability) are factored in.
I ran a business. I did the some of the administrative work.

They have to find a way to pay for Obamacare.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

There's another very liberal thing about Seattle.

There are more dogs than kids.

And that's not a joke.

 

[Iceweasel]

Another point is that raising the minimum wage will likely raise all wages. Who wants to have the new kid start out at $15/hr after you worked your butt off for years to get to?

 

[Lovebears65]

IT also has high taxes and high cost of livings and high house prices. SO, whats your point

Seattle Announces $15 Minimum Wage, Highest In The U.S.

Seattle will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour over the coming years under a deal brokered by Mayor Ed Murray and blessed by labor and business groups alike, city leaders announced Thursday afternoon.

The new pay floor will phase in at different speeds for businesses of different sizes, but all employers will have to meet the $15 minimum wage by the end of the decade. Businesses with more than 500 employees nationwide will have a three-year phase-in period, while smaller employers get five years to ratchet up their payscales.

After reaching $15 an hour, the city’s minimum wage will automatically climb by 2.4 percent each year regardless of the rate of inflation. Even among states with relatively strong minimum wage laws, automatic increases are uncommon. Thursday’s deal will make Seattle the national leader on municipal minimum wage laws. Washington currently has the highest pay floor of any state at $9.32 per hour.

We will see the economic health of Seattle reflected in this move.

One concern is that as cities raise their minimum wage, more people will move there. We saw this (for a different reason) with the Reagan recession and it put those cities under more stress.

 

[Jughead]

The new minimum wage increase to $15/hour will inevitably result in large scale layoffs, and business shutdowns. There is no way some businesses can continue to operate, and generate profit with this increase.

Well now, the experiment is being made. So we will see if your prediction happens.

For the sake of the Seattle economy, I'm hoping that business leaders and the Chamber of Commerce can convince city officials to drop this idea.

 

[BobPlumb]

Those of you predicting (praying for?) layoffs and huge price increases are going to be disappointed.

Inflating labor prices have NEVER EVER been shown to cause inflation.

NEVER!

Every time there is inflation, it comes from Government deficit spending or very VERY liberal lending practices.

Let me recap...increasing labor costs have never EVER been shown to cause inflation,

Increasing labor costs follow, they do not lead inflation.

Deny it to your hearts content, but you are either misinformed or simply making shit up to bolster your feeble anti-labor arguments.

Do you have any stats on increasing the minimum wage by over 50%. usually when the minimum wage is increased, almost all of the market is at or above the new minimum anyway.