Economic illiteracy and minimum wage madness are, of course, not exclusive to the United States.
Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the minimum wage for workers in Russia will go up to 7,500 rubles a month ($109) in July, from the current 6,204 rubles a month ($90).
It will be the second increase this year after a 4% hike in January.
"The difference between the minimum wage and the cost of living remains quite high ... people are worried," Medvedev said last week in a speech at the United Russia party conference.
As EPJ readers are aware, minimum wage hikes only increase unemployment, but that didn't stop CNN Money, when reporting on the Russian minimum wage increase, to declare in its headline:
Russians are finally getting some good news. Minimum wage is going up by 20%.-RW
I'm not an economist, but I once slept with one. Does that qualify me for a job at CNN Money?
ReplyDeleteThis is actually a disqualification. On the other hand, if that were some girl with major in Marxist Feminist Studies for Alternately Intellectually Abled, you'd be golden.
DeleteLet me ask you this, did raising the minimum wage from $5 the 7.50 increase unemployment or was it something else? As with all things, the truth is in the middle. You can't have all the wealth concentrated at the top. You should have a minimum wage increases but for only companies of certain sizes weather is 10 or 50 employees with our profits or income above a certain amount you don't want it straddle low profit forms you want to spread the wealth among high-profit firms that go to the top and only to the top who only had the money and accumulates more more. And this is coming from a hedge fund manager.
ReplyDeleteYou're right.....if the political class can just determine the right "formula" for the minimum wage....we will all be set!
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