Why Raising the Minimum Wage to $15 per Hour is a Terrible idea.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the creator of the Green New Deal, wants minimum wage raised to $15 per hour. The Green New Deal is a prime example of far Left socialism, which many Millennials and Gen-Zers support because these politicians somewhat appeal to their young minds.

The Green New Deal has been bouncing back and forth since the early 2000s. After the November 2018 midterms, Ocasio-Cortez created a committee for the Green New Deal. Her version includes raising the minimum wage, outlawing the use of fossil fuels by 2030, among other issues.  

My brother once time told me: “Minimum wage, if kept up with inflation, should be $17 per hour.” He’s not wrong. According to Business Insider, if minimum wage kept up with inflation, it should actually be over $19 per hour.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have a job and only make $8 per hour, 75 cents above minimum wage. I’d love to make $19+ per hour. As my father said, in the same conversation; “Minimum wage exists for people like high schoolers who want a taste of making money, or senior citizens who want something to do with their time. It’s not meant to be lived off of.”

And that is the exact reason Ocasio-Cortez wants to raise minimum wage. She claims she wants people to be able to live off of it.

But that’s not why minimum wage exists. If the best an adult can do is make minimum wage at their job, they are left with a couple options to close the gap: find a better paying job or get help from the federal government. Typically if this is the case, it probably means you have some disability. Because, again, minimum wage exits for people who don’t have the time (such as a high school student) to get a good paying job, or too much time (senior citizens) who just want something to do.

The second reason this is a terrible idea, is it’s too much money floating around, and not enough gold in the reserves to cover that. There’s a whole heap load of gold in this little known place called Fort Knox, Kentucky, and that gold upholds the value of the American dollar.

Let’s say everyone now makes $15/hr. That’s way too much money floating around. As a result, it’s going to lower the value of the American dollar, and make products more expensive over time. Say goodbye to cheap gas and cheap food. Whereas, in reality it will be the same value but face a higher numeric price.   

The third reason, is it causes unemployment. If minimum wage is raised to $15 per hour, there are  businesses (such as independent restaurants) that have 10-15 employees, yet wouldn’t be able to afford paying them all a higher hourly wage; $15 per hour. Depending on what they can afford, several of those 10-15 employees may have to be laid off or fired. Within larger corporate operations (Walmart, for example), if all employees are being paid $15/hr, someone in a higher position (such as an executive) may demand a higher pay raise in order to receive fair pay. It’s just too much money.

Raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour is a terrible idea. It’ll cause some pretty bad inflation, it would cause unemployment, and there’s a reason it exists in the first place. Money doesn’t grow on trees. The dollar is worth what it’s worth for a reason.