Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Seattle's $15 Minimum Wage

Well, they did it up in SEA - passed the $15/hour minimum wage. Actually, I am glad they did because now we can see in a laboratory situation what happens when this sort of perhaps well-intentioned but stupid legislation is passed and hopefully learn from what is likely to be Seattle's bad experience. 

There was already a similar experiment underway in the Seattle suburb of SeaTac that Seattle voters could have learned from and avoided this idiocy, but hey - it's more fun to do it yourself! Here is what was happening just south of Seattle:

 "At the start of the year, the Seattle suburb of SeaTac raised the area’s minimum wage to $15, and the consequences are now starting to be felt. And it’s not just the unions who championed the effort, or those who still have jobs, that are feeling them.

Over the last few months, a few things have happened:
  • Managers have taken more responsibilities on themselves, instead of hiring more workers.
  • Businesses have laid off workers, or eliminated their plans to hire more.
  • Area parking now comes with an added “living-wage surcharge.”
  • Hotels have cut employee benefits, free food, and overtime.
Shocking: when bad ideas are put into place, there are consequences."

Some other predictions: summer jobs for high schoolers will go from scarce to non-existent, employers will aggressively automate as many routine tasks as possible, prices will go up in fast food joints, movie theaters, and anywhere else using lots of low-skilled people, overall service quality will go downhill, and last but not least, the same political idiots will clamor to raise the minimum wage to $20/hour for exactly the same reasons - once is not enough! 

My condolences to the folks in Seattle who voted against this including my daughter and son-in-law. Idaho is looking better and better.

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