> But what happens in your scenario where there is a minimum wage law ? Those people magically make 5 times more ?
....yes? Considering that's what we have right now? You don't need to imagine this scenario. We're in it right now. In Oregon, the minimum wage is $10.75/hour.
> Do you think you can force business to hire at any rate ? [...] What if your increase this rate by 100x, what happens ?
Obviously not. I knew someone would try to make this argument, but I think its absurd.
> Or does the rate needs to follow productivity and current standard of living indexes ?
I'd make it follow a standard of living index. What the standard should be is up for debate, but I think at a minimum, someone working 40 hours a week should be able to live in a studio apartment on their own and buy food without government assistance. Two people working 40 hours a week each should be able to have a 2-bedroom apartment while raising a kid.
> If the scenario where people don't work for 2 USD/hour they have 0 of salary. So the second scenario where they work for 2 USD / hour makes everyone more rich, I would be more inclined to believe the median wage would increase
You're forgetting that the people formerly making minimum wage would either have their wage reduced to the hypothetical $2/hour or end up being replaced by a worker willing to work for $2/hour.
If you lower or remove minimum wage, every minimum wage job will have a reduction in the wage. When an employer pays minimum wage, they're implicitly saying "I'd pay you less, but the government won't let me."
> The most important is that people worked and sustained themselves.
....yes? Considering that's what we have right now?
So if you have a magic law that force businesses to pay 5 times the normal productivity for free, then you must have a law that force businesses to pay 5000 times the normal productivity ? There must be something wrong
You're forgetting that the people
Yes I agree but then we need to look at new prices for consumers goods and services that will be lower. I don't think talking about median wage is very meaningful without comparing what you can buy with it
....yes? Considering that's what we have right now? You don't need to imagine this scenario. We're in it right now. In Oregon, the minimum wage is $10.75/hour.
> Do you think you can force business to hire at any rate ? [...] What if your increase this rate by 100x, what happens ?
Obviously not. I knew someone would try to make this argument, but I think its absurd.
> Or does the rate needs to follow productivity and current standard of living indexes ?
I'd make it follow a standard of living index. What the standard should be is up for debate, but I think at a minimum, someone working 40 hours a week should be able to live in a studio apartment on their own and buy food without government assistance. Two people working 40 hours a week each should be able to have a 2-bedroom apartment while raising a kid.
> If the scenario where people don't work for 2 USD/hour they have 0 of salary. So the second scenario where they work for 2 USD / hour makes everyone more rich, I would be more inclined to believe the median wage would increase
You're forgetting that the people formerly making minimum wage would either have their wage reduced to the hypothetical $2/hour or end up being replaced by a worker willing to work for $2/hour.
If you lower or remove minimum wage, every minimum wage job will have a reduction in the wage. When an employer pays minimum wage, they're implicitly saying "I'd pay you less, but the government won't let me."
> The most important is that people worked and sustained themselves.
Only by a technical definition of "sustained".