View original postUgh. The biggest obstacle to my UW degree has been the commute, by far. (But that's what I get for refusing to live in the metro area.)
You're at U-Dub? Awesome. That's where I got my degree. Going back to the Jackson School for an advanced degree is an idea I kick around once in a while. What are you working on?
View original postAnyway, yep. I do think it's worth noting that the study has not yet been peer-reviewed, which means it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, even if a lone economist describes it as credible. We will see what happens with the peer review and publishing process.
Yeah, Tuesday's edition of the LA Times had a better article on the study than the one in the WP. More questions than answers since the the full study hasn't been released, but interesting even so.
View original postAt this point I'm thinking it may wind up being a useful caution for certain types of economies: if there are too many moderately skilled workers relative to entry-level types, and not enough employers who see potential future dividends from supporting the entry-level workers, then the leftist strategy could certainly backfire and increase poverty among the less skilled.
Or housing prices will drive them out of the area, along with the jobs. No break for renters, either. Not at two grand a month.
View original postBut I am not at all convinced that Seattle fits that mold. As you were alluding to, Vodalus, massive corporate employers are a HUGE factor here, and they often see a reason (and can afford) to employ the entry-level types, even if the small restaurants do not. So this -
View original post"And critics of the research pointed out what they saw as serious shortcomings. In particular, to avoid confusing establishments that were subject to the minimum with those that were not, the authors did not include large employers with locations both inside and outside of Seattle in their calculations. Skeptics argued that omission could explain the unusual results."
The other study did a bit of a better job at providing some details for this. The minimum wage actually ranges from $11/hour to $15/hour, depending on the size of the company and whether or not employees receive tips. However, I didn't so much as have questions about their methodology as I simply disliked it. The Berkley study gave me the impression of being designed to bolster a political statement rather than providing an objective analysis.
View original postThis excludes Microsoft and Amazon, two of our biggest players. And that automatically renders the study suspect for Seattle, as they go on to explain in the article.
View original postAnd yeah, just as someone else who lives here, the "damage liberalism can do" is a hilarious and bizarre thing to say about our economy. The unemployment rate is 3.1%. Our house has nearly doubled in value in less than four years. There are too many fucking people. Etc.
I know, right? But I will say that having no state income tax makes things a bit weird here.
View original postSide note, I really wish they had managed to pass the basic income referendum in Switzerland, since I think that is a much more promising solution. It still would have been a severely limited experiment, given how small and homogenous the country is, but it would have been so interesting to read the follow-up studies.
I believe Finland enacted some sort of pilot program this year, albeit with a much more modest amount of money per month for recipients. Something like just $700? It's been half a year since I read the article, sorry. Still, might prove an interesting read for you at some point. Oh, and it's nice to see you posting again.
南無阿弥陀仏!
Case study of the damage liberalism can do - $15 Min Wage
- 27/06/2017 01:54:54 AM
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Seattle is a poor choice for a case study
- 27/06/2017 05:31:18 AM
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Well, sure, but many of those non-entry level jobs are being held by baby boomers.
- 27/06/2017 06:09:40 AM
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That's at least in part because the minimum wage makes automation more cost-effective
- 27/06/2017 11:04:28 AM
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Exactly. If you have to pay people $15/hour as a McDonald's cashier, put in the robots instead.
- 27/06/2017 07:18:11 PM
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Many?
- 27/06/2017 12:30:39 PM
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Yes, many. My office is full of them.
- 27/06/2017 08:59:55 PM
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So is life.
- 27/06/2017 09:29:01 PM
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Re: So is life.
- 27/06/2017 09:49:21 PM
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My father worked two jobs his entire working life.
- 27/06/2017 09:56:56 PM
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We have a 40 hour work week for a reason.
- 27/06/2017 10:17:15 PM
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That's a piss-poor analogy
- 27/06/2017 10:23:04 PM
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How is that really relevant, then?
- 27/06/2017 11:03:34 PM
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I am really enjoying this new-fangled "like" feature we have now. 
*NM*
- 28/06/2017 12:13:42 AM
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*NM*
- 28/06/2017 12:13:42 AM
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*NM*
Personal choice
- 28/06/2017 12:20:47 AM
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Re: Personal choice
- 28/06/2017 12:32:31 AM
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In theory I agree with your ideas about a living wage, however
- 28/06/2017 12:16:56 PM
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Also, curtailing immigration, like keeping the minimum wage low, really only delays the inevitable.
- 29/06/2017 11:05:58 PM
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damn *NM*
- 27/06/2017 09:29:01 PM
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Bad life decisions lead to bad life consequences
- 28/06/2017 05:44:58 PM
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You also shouldn't respond to it by letting them die.
- 28/06/2017 07:53:10 PM
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But this same arguement can be flipped by....
- 28/06/2017 10:34:25 PM
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I feel like you're making my arguments for me here.
- 28/06/2017 10:51:38 PM
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an apt comparison
- 28/06/2017 11:09:25 PM
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So everyone who "can't"
- 29/06/2017 09:49:41 AM
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ummm
- 29/06/2017 02:06:54 PM
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I know. And I disagree with you.
- 29/06/2017 04:58:45 PM
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Health care and minimum wage are different discussions
- 29/06/2017 05:14:07 PM
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I think nossy and I are ok with letting lazy people get by...
- 29/06/2017 08:11:36 PM
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Hyperbole is all well and good for internet memes but it really doesn' advance your argument.
- 03/07/2017 04:22:59 PM
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Why does McDonalds keep coming up in this?
- 29/06/2017 06:53:46 AM
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All right, so what society without minimum wage do you point to as a model? *NM*
- 29/06/2017 09:39:12 AM
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How about "all the ones we had before the 20th century"?
- 29/06/2017 10:47:30 PM
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The ones where hunger and scarcity were widespread?
- 29/06/2017 11:04:02 PM
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So just to put this out there...
- 29/06/2017 11:12:47 PM
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The example for this post was for Seattle, or perhaps King County only.
- 29/06/2017 11:49:32 PM
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"Attract labor"? Minimum wage labor? I believe you mean, violently repell businesses
- 30/06/2017 03:31:36 PM
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Like anything else not addressed in the Constitution, it should be up to state and local government
- 30/06/2017 05:22:51 PM
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Seems like a methodology to identify struggling operations more than one to evaluate...
- 27/06/2017 10:25:30 AM
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But the traffic is the WORST.
- 28/06/2017 12:47:13 AM
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Re: But the traffic is the WORST.
- 28/06/2017 10:38:54 AM
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Don't say "liberalism" - there's nothing liberal about them. Say "Leftism". *NM*
- 27/06/2017 05:07:36 PM
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I was thinking the same. Even in the US, that's a weird context to use that word in. *NM*
- 27/06/2017 05:50:21 PM
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Most Americans have no idea about the historical context of Liberalism.
- 27/06/2017 06:03:38 PM
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But even so, surely even in the US the main connotation is with social progressives, not economic?
- 27/06/2017 06:28:54 PM
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I think it started to change in the 1980s
- 27/06/2017 07:14:26 PM
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Re: I think it started to change in the 1980s
- 27/06/2017 09:05:23 PM
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Whether or not their views are shitty is a subjective determination
- 27/06/2017 11:15:22 PM
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A decade under conservative deans would fix the situation nicely, I think.
- 27/06/2017 11:24:41 PM
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Yes! I wonder what Dean Wormer from Faber is doing these days... *NM*
- 28/06/2017 12:03:46 AM
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So I've been thinking through this whole minimum wage thing....
- 28/06/2017 05:47:26 PM
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It varies fairly significantly from location to location. MIT has a decent calculator.
- 28/06/2017 07:56:41 PM
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Re: So I've been thinking through this whole minimum wage thing....
- 29/06/2017 05:08:56 AM
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