The Infinity of Minimum Wage Debates...
scrabman
It seems that every term of Congress there are a slew of debates about raising the Minimum Wage from the default of $1. I see well-meaning Congress members proposing to raise the Minimum Wage often oblivious to how this topic is discussed on a monthly basis if not more often. So let's get into some of the nitty gritty where the Minimum Wage is involved.
First of all ... I'm a liberal and the Party President of the United States Workers' Party (yes ... WORKERS). Thus, I would be in favor of this if the players of the game didn't already take care of 0 skill workers. You're only a 0 skill worker for a few days and then you're a skill 1 and then you're rapidly a skill 2. It takes 2 days to hit skill 1 where most of the market offers are well above minimum wage because of the sheer number of employers competing for employees (even moreso in other countries). Generally if you're an employer offering jobs to 0 skill workers you're going to help them out ... 0 skill jobs are basically charity offers because company owners get very little benefit from a 0 skill worker who starts the game at 50 wellness.
So every other week some Senator gets the same idea that I had when I was a new Senator that it would be cool to make the minimum wage equal to the cost of food (though when I started the cost of Q1 food was about $0.30) or even higher. However, there are a few things that aren't being considered in that thought process.
1) The citizen gets a $5 New Citizen payment upon starting eRep that will help buy food along with working their first job and earning at least $1 per day. On the third day any worker can get a pay raise.
2) The citizen is directed by the New Citizen Message to seek out gifting and food programs that will give them free wellness. The USWP has a long history with their Hand to Hand program and now some of the other parties are getting similar (but inferior) programs up and running as well. The USWP wellness program is one of the big ways that we help workers ... though our detractors just brand our workers as "zombies" out of jealousy.
3) The 0 skill citizen who is hired by an employer who is offering 0 skill jobs is usually going to be looked after. But if the new citizen is too dense to use the above two options then how is forcing an employer to pay them more going to help that citizen?
4) With all of these other factors there are many employers who will deem that it is not worth it to offer jobs to 0 skill citizens if you try to raise the min. wage to $2 let alone raise it to $5. Thus, if you raise the Minimum Wage it will hurt 0 skill workers. Look, I know that this is a RL conservative argument against raising min. wage but in eRep it happens to be true due to how the game works.
Those are my thoughts that come as a 3rd term Senator and as an employer. I've offered plenty of jobs to 0 skill workers but now I run a Q5 defense system company and a Q2 wood company (that I hope to upgrade to Q3 with the sale of my first DS) and it would be bad for me to hire 0 skill people because it's more detrimental on their wellness. Yet, there have been times when I've plugged some 0 skill workers into one of the various companies I've run to fill my max productivity calculation. Easily half of the 0 skill workers don't make it much past skill 1 and that's with me as an employer who gives them free food and wellness in their first several days just like Justin did for me when I was a new employee.
I think that the Min Wage option is a bad game mechanic based upon the interests that are involved between worker and employer in this game. However, it is one of the few things that Congress gets to do so it's only natural that someone would get the novel idea to propose a minimum wage increase every term of Congress. I still think it's a bad idea though ... and this has come from accumulated experience in eRep.
Vote Scrabman for President in March. Vote Justin for President in February.
Comments
looks like you're already getting ready to takeover in Mrach uncontested eh?
"Vote Scrabman for President in March. Vote Justin for President in February."
Are the American people being being milked in a Presidential Good Old Boyz network? Scrabman, CEO of Scrab Holdings, which just got a bid from President Justin for $26,000 1/Day before Elections on a Defense System owned by Scrabman's holding company.
Talk about corruption...
Scrab Holdings: http://www.erepublik.com/en/o[..]26933
President Hooking Up His Peeps: http://www.erepublik.com/en/U[..]/2721
Sigh, Alby while I don't support Justin (or anyone: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/why-i-support-no-one-730385) for president, you have to admit that a Q5 DS is worth purchasing.
That's not corruption. That's smart infrastructure building. Sigh...
How about we wait until the next President is elected and determine if such an expenditure is needed? 1/Day before a President who is buddies with a Defense Contractor issues a purchase suggests a last minute hookup before the chance the Prez could get booted and the contact never get fulfilled...
Yes its all legit. But its shady...
@ Kyle
Yeah it is worth building but don't you think maybe we should put in a territory that is more at risk? I would rather see it go to Georgia even though they already have a q3 just because Georgia is one of the two regions that borders Portugal that is open for the Portuguese to invade. We are in a bad spot right now and if the Portugese attacked while we are still suffering from the loss of our reserve they could put up a fight.
But if history is any indicator they won't invade but you never know.
That's just when the DS was available for purchase Alby. I offered it for sale the same day it was scheduled to be completed. I don't think that any manufacturer of Hospitals or Defense Systems can just let them sit around in their inventory forever. It costs A LOT of money to build a Q5 Hospital, DS, or House and I'm going to have to stash most of the proceeds from the sale of this DS so that I can build the next one and hope that labor and wood prices don't rise again like they have been.
The last Q5DS that the eUSA purchased was from sitting President Benn Dover from the company that he co-owns with Uncle Sam. They charged the same price that I charged for my DS ($26,000) even though I had higher costs when I built mine. I thought about charging $28,000 or $30,000 but did not because of the financial curveball that was thrown at the eUSA when their treasury was recently raided. Further, while it may be the President who proposes the buying of a DS it is the Congress who first approves to bring a purchase forward and the Congress who ultimately votes on the DS ... which they did with overwhelming support (and I assume you're one of the 4 "no" votes).
No corruption here. Just business my friend. Now do you want to actually discuss the subject of this article? I believe that it is a position that your party supports is it not?
Congress could have voted no. Have you seen the score? Its not even close. All Justin can do is propose it. You could take it one step further and say that its all these Congresspeople Scrab is friends with. But then again, thats just called being smart and friendly. And even a (nodoubt)foxnews junkie like yourself has to admit that connections get you everywhere.
Scrabman: Its just a Shady transaction. 🙂
As for Min.Wage, keep it at $1.00. Labor is a commodity and wages should be paid based on market forces (ie: Supply of Labor vs. Demand for it).
Wages should not be paid based on Unfunded Government Mandates of Arbitrary wages to suit political goals.
Hokiehigh: It also helps when 1/3rd of the Congress is from your party. Another 1/3rd shares your ideals. And then throw in a few who've been politically bullied into voting with the masses. 🙂 With that, I'm sure you can get a landslide in Congress. 🙂
Only 9 Congress Members have been able to withstand the Tax Hikes... The Government is on the left side of the fence right now. Socialism gribs this country at the moment. Although a grass roots effort is underway to fix these wrongs. Business leaders have already started complaining about taxes crippling there businesses and foreign firms undercutting domestic producers.. The winds of change are blowing.. 🙂
Do you mind if I use that in my campaign Alby?
Maybe I'll dub myself Scrab Shady.
May I have your attention please?
May I have your attention please?
Will the real Scrab Shady please stand up?
I repeat, will the real Scrab Shady please stand up?
We're gonna have a problem here.
'Cause I'm Scrab Shady, yes I'm the real Shady
All you other Scrab Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Scrab Shady please stand up,
please stand up, please stand up?
Hokie:
Don't go bad mouthing FoxNews... 🙂 They tell the news like it is.. lol
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa179/HobieOneKinobie/131105perspective.jpg
Scraby: March should be an entertaining election. lol
Voted and +1 for fun on the comments
Alby,
just messing with ya alby! my best friends can't stop watching that stuff.
"Business leaders have already started complaining about taxes crippling there businesses and foreign firms undercutting domestic producers"
Don't forget it was (buisnessman) Scrab who pointed out the spain tax hikes and their undercutting of our iron market (plug plug).
As a NooB who's just starting out in this game, and netted a profit of 6 cents for my first day of work after buying food, an increase in the minimum wage sounded pretty good the first time I heard it. But I totally agree with Scrabman that increasing the minimum wage is not necessary to help new citizens, and probably will actually hurt them. $2 for a day's pay, less $0.20 for taxes and $1.74 for the cheapest food I could find seems a little discouraging at first, but it's not nearly as discouraging as it would be if that $2 job wasn't there at all because minimum wage laws made it unprofitable to hire a new guy like me and I started starving to death on day 3 because I could no longer afford even Q1 food.
Spending some time looking at the job opportunities that will be available to me after a total of 6 days of work make me pretty optimistic, even if the first couple of days seem a little bleak. I think that rather than a minimum wage, let's focus on (1) full employment for NooBs, (2) better introductory/education materials for NooBs so they know right up front that within 6 days they can be doing a WHOLE lot better and getting ahead, and (3) find some ways to encourage NooBs to be active those first days so they get involved and become good eCitizens.
Vote Scrab!! lol
"Don't forget it was (buisnessman) Scrab who pointed out the spain tax hikes and their undercutting of our iron market (plug plug)."
Thats right scrabs... We expect jacked up Import Taxes under your administration should you be elected.
Very well reasoned and articulate article sir.
Another strong article Scrab, voted.
I find it ironic that an employer is running the "Workers'" Party.
Just an observation.
Nice.
Voted.
Good article. Question about this quote:
"2) The citizen is directed by the New Citizen Message to seek out gifting and food programs that will give them free wellness."
I just re-read my welcome message from Justinious, and I don't see any reference to this at all. Where can I read more about them?
As a noob, I agree whole-heartedly with Tony. Voted and subscribed.
Hey Scrab.
just to piss Alby off, i'm Gonna buy another DS right before elections, lol.
@ Justin ... I think that Killing Time had one ... and Kyle has a Q4 hospital up for bid.
@ Bastion ... they were supposed to have updated that message. Head over to theuswp.com and you can sign up for our wellness program or you can check on the eUSA forums (erepublikusa.com) and get into that gifting program (but ours is better).
Well said scrabman. Voted.
I like how the primary detractor here is the same person who used to take advantage of the empoloyee market, which indirectly led to the abuse of newer players.
For the record, I didn't want to raise the minimum wage when I was first elected.
Maybe we should lower the minimum wage to .50 - with the 5 USD new citizen fee, that would give them enough money to eat until they get their first skill level and a better job. It would also make it less painful for company owners to keep 0 skill jobs around.
In tandem, update the welcome message to explain that by increasing skill to 1 (and especially 2), they'll be able to make enough money to afford food and increase wellness.
The USWP wellness program is one of the big ways that we help workers ... though our detractors just brand our workers as "zombies" out of jealousy.
IIRC the USWP were dubbed as "zombies" to refer to them as a sheep voting bloc- not because people were jealous. This started back around the time Immunogenic was President.
To the President and his tax abilities...
Alby,
The President has NO power whatsoever to enforce any tax policy, congress does. Purchases and donations also go through congress. You said that 1/3 of a party in congress was on the side of either Justin or scrab (you did not clarify). Two USWP members on the eUS forums spoke against the purchase due to the Federal Reserve's situation, and there are only 4 UCP (Justin's party) congressmen which is far from even 1/5.
The purchase was actually put through by congress who want to keep about 50 employed workers, instead of putting them out of work. See my latest article, last content section, where I explained it in detail.
Oh, tax policy xD Congress dictates that. During the Dover Administration Benn had almost no say since he was drowned out by congressional babble, and Justin pokes his head in to give some experienced opinion when needed. Otherwise, congress is given the power to ultimately decide taxation.