Originally Posted by wildyard
One thing that gets me is that no one seems to understand that one of the biggest feeds into rising prices is the ongoing demands for raising the minimum wage laws. Why don't people realize that every time the minimum wage is raised, the cost of living goes up even more?
True, but people who work just as hard as you do, or even harder, deserve to be paid enough to live on. And the minimum wage has never even approached that point. Meanwhile, those at the top earn undeserved millions every year.
If you don't allow people a living wage, then we all only have to subsidize them for the things they can't afford, such as housing (public housing projects), healthcare, food (food stamps), childcare, etc. This happens through public benefit programs, through tax credits, through charity drives.
And you do get lower quality, because only the most inexperienced and desperate of people will take those jobs. And once they can, they leave for something better, so you lose any experience and skills they develop. But give them a living wage for their work, and they will stay and you'll get the quality that comes when they develop expertise at their jobs.
You're not wrong. When overhead, whether it's the cost of supplies or rent or wages, goes up, businesses almost always pass the cost on right to the customers. Or they lay people off or cut corners on quality or quantity.
IMO there just has to be a better solution than not paying people enough to live on. Part of that is making those at the top accountable for their bonuses and perks. Part of that is realizing that not every publicly-owned company (stock market companies) should always grow in value. There's this idea that corporations have a lifecycle, and once they stop growing, they die. There is just no reason they can't reach their "right size" and sustain that - except that then the stockholders sell their stock and the company's paper value goes down. Oh my, such a shame.
Sorry, I've gone into a rambling rant here. Stopping now.