The grandparent post is highlighting an important point, though: you can't consider questions of morality without also considering morality for whom. There's often a hidden loser in decisions like this, and their perspective is ignored.
Say that a certain business unit has a labor budget of $3M/year. (Because that's how these things really work: a manager gets a budget to work with, driven either by his business's revenues or by the decisions of higher-ups.) He can hire 100 people at $15/hour, or he can hire 150 people at $10/hour.
The business owner, obviously, would prefer to hire 150 people at $10/hour. He can get more work out of them (in any industry other than R&D or software, where you have negative economies of scale). That part is not in dispute, but most commenters here don't care; business owners and managers have plenty of money & power already.
The person hired, obviously, would rather get $15/hour. It could be the difference between poverty and a decent middle-class lifestyle. The minimum wage is great for them.
But there's a third group: the 50 people who weren't hired because the business has decided they only have 100 positions instead of 150. They're fucked. They go back in the unemployment pool, and have to fend for yourself. And they're even more powerless and vulnerable than the minimum wage workers who have jobs.
I don't actually have a strong opinion on the morality of minimum wage laws, but I fear that the perspective of the workers who aren't hired is lost, and if you really want to talk morals, you need to account for all people involved. Would you still support minimum wage laws if they were sold as "Employment caps for low-wage industries"? Because that's their actual effect.
Say that a certain business unit has a labor budget of $3M/year. (Because that's how these things really work: a manager gets a budget to work with, driven either by his business's revenues or by the decisions of higher-ups.) He can hire 100 people at $15/hour, or he can hire 150 people at $10/hour.
The business owner, obviously, would prefer to hire 150 people at $10/hour. He can get more work out of them (in any industry other than R&D or software, where you have negative economies of scale). That part is not in dispute, but most commenters here don't care; business owners and managers have plenty of money & power already.
The person hired, obviously, would rather get $15/hour. It could be the difference between poverty and a decent middle-class lifestyle. The minimum wage is great for them.
But there's a third group: the 50 people who weren't hired because the business has decided they only have 100 positions instead of 150. They're fucked. They go back in the unemployment pool, and have to fend for yourself. And they're even more powerless and vulnerable than the minimum wage workers who have jobs.
I don't actually have a strong opinion on the morality of minimum wage laws, but I fear that the perspective of the workers who aren't hired is lost, and if you really want to talk morals, you need to account for all people involved. Would you still support minimum wage laws if they were sold as "Employment caps for low-wage industries"? Because that's their actual effect.