Re: Minimum wage
 

Not sure about that, but I guess the biggest issue is that the current older generation are living off non replaceable accumulated wealth/borrowings which will diminish significantly over time.

So many Government programmes for example rely on the current tax payer coughing up for past liabilities and that only works if the wealth curve is going up.

The NHS is a classic example, but all Western Countries have this issue of unfunded liabilities. Some far worse than the UK.

Quite what happens when it all starts crashing is another issue.

Re: Minimum wage
 

Or those who look down on trash collectors picking up their weekly trash. Funny thing is many who look down on these kinds of jobs make the same or less then those they are looking down on, but they have a fancy sounding title so they think they are better.

Re: Minimum wage
 

Apologies, I misread your post. But if supply and demand is the primary criteria for the cost of labor, then that also applies to low wage workers.

Re: Minimum wage
 

Fancy titles are certainly booming.

Re: Minimum wage
 

It is being implemented, the first step was moving jobs abroad. It has picked up pace.

My first job I was dealing with a company that made clothes for M&S, at that time I think all the clothing was made in the UK, now none of it is.

I worked in the Insurance sector, that was one of the growth areas, but even before I left many of the back office functions that had been moved out of London were moved overseas.

They had Gladiator on the TV last night, you can only appease the mob for so long, you run out of bread.

Re: Minimum wage
 

Exactly, you can not outsource all jobs, which is why many support Immigration Reform.

Re: Minimum wage
 

It's funny how those who claim to have the interests of the low paid at heart are often those who who are least willing to help cut the supply of cheap labour, which would push up the pay rates up for those on the lowest pay, and also help the unemployed. :rolleyes:

Re: Minimum wage
 

Although economists didn't expect for the vast increase in life expectancy, a second problem also occurred that they didn't expect which made the problem far worst.

Economists assumed that developed countries would grow at a specific real gdp rate and the projected growth rate was pretty accurate and what they expected was that the benefit from the gdp growth would be more evenly distributed which didn't occur. If the benefits from gdp growth had been more evenly distributed, the problems you described would be significantly reduced.

Re: Minimum wage
 

Overall that's not true. In the 1980's, both the democrats and republicans supported an immigration reform bill that had a high F2 quota with strict sanctions against employers that hired undocumented workers. However the Chamber of Commerce, the farm lobby, the hospitality lobby, and the construction lobby all opposed the strict sanctions against employers and the republican party folded. Now the same republican party is complaining about a failed immigration law.

The democratic party wants to put in those strict sanctions in the current porposed bill. Illegal immigrants from poor countries will never stop crossing the border in masses without those strict sanctions in place. Also with an F2 visa, the worker can file grievances instead of just accepting the abuse that many employers hand out since they know they won't be reported.

Re: Minimum wage
 

I don't think that economists foresaw the massive inflows of cheap labour, both legal and otherwise, that have flooded into North America, the UK, and Western Europe, either. The effect of that flood of cheap labour on holding down pay rates was almost entirely felt by the lowest paid and unskilled workers.

Re: Minimum wage
 

I'll agree since construction used to be a good paying job in the 1960s and 1970s and people could actually make a living as a farm hand.

Re: Minimum wage
 

Mathematicians if they had been consulted would have mentioned that such a process was impossible.

I do not recollect any discussions of distribution but a Historian might mention that this had not previously occurred so why now?

Re: Minimum wage
 

The corollary is that a strictly-enforced minimum wage would drastically cut down on illegal immigration.

Re: Minimum wage
 

Not sure how that would make any difference.

Strictly enforced work places would but that is fanciful to say the least.

Re: Minimum wage
 

And conversely, strictly enforced immigration laws and border security would push up pay rates for low skill labour.

Also prosecuting employers and managers for hiring illegal immigrants would largely eliminate the demand for labour from illegal immigrants. You wouldn't have to lock up many managers, owners, and directors before the word would get around.

What's actually needed is all of the above.