RE: Help with a Minimum Wage Model

From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rafal@smigrodzki.org)
Date: Wed Apr 16 2003 - 12:22:42 MDT

  • Next message: Rafal Smigrodzki: "universal tax RE: Help with a Minimum Wage Model"

    owner-extropians@extropy.org wrote:
    > On Sun, 6 Apr 2003 21:39:08 -0700, you wrote:
    >
    >> Reason writes
    >>
    >>> You're missing the very complex part of the model that shows how
    >>> much revenue an entrepreneur can generate per employee. Personnel
    >>> are the largest cost in almost all businesses. You are also missing
    >>> the taxation cost of enforcing a minimum wage.
    >>>
    >>> That and workers never becoming entrepreneurs is silly. It's a
    >>> dynamic equilibrium at best, and the number of entrepreneurs is all
    >>> over the map with legislation, cost of money, industry you have in
    >>> mind, etc, etc...
    >>
    >> Yes, but my goal is to find the minimum number of assumptions,
    >> (and if possible to minimize their implausibility), that would
    >> enable anyone to think that minimum wage is a good idea.
    >>
    >
    >
    > Assume that all those poor people will riot and kill all the yuppies.
    > That should do the trick.
    >

    ### Actually, it is easier for the rich to collectively kill the poor than
    the other way around.

    If welfare created a positive feedback between threatening others with
    violence and financial reward, it would be indeed a very bad idea.

    Workfare, provision of monies for performing marginally useful but
    economically unsustainable services (many simple cleaning and service jobs),
    seems to be a much better solution, in part because it limits the total
    funds needed by discouraging the lazy.

    Rafal



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Apr 16 2003 - 09:29:02 MDT