You might think this is a joke, but while the minimum wage in many states is around 4725 which is the Federal Minimum wage - and some states are still at $5.15 for certain jobs, a legislator in California is proposing a $50. per hour minimum wage.
This is treating the symptom rather than treating the problem. The argument is that the cost of living is very high in California, so we need to increase salaries. The problem is to increase salaries will only fuel more increases in prices - a vicious circle.
The proper way is to encourage less expensive, starter homes, for people to buy less expensive automobiles, teach people how to manage they money better.
Now the minimum wage had just been raised recently to the $15 level. If the minimum wage had been keeping pace with inflation AND productivity - it would probably be closer to $20.00 today.
One of the real problems today is that people expect a minimum wage to be a living wage. The minimum wage was intended to be a bottom line floor. The issue is real wages have not kept up with productivity and money is pouring into the hands of corporations, rather than the people who are providing the value.
As jobs become more automated and workers eliminated, this problem will just become worse. Are we going to be able to back to the days where a one income earner can support of family of 4? Probably not. We need to look at the economy from top to bottom in order to figure out the road ahead.
Some ideas would be universal basic income supplements and tax breaks, redesigned cities to lower the cost of transportation, company supplied housing for their workers, and food co-ops to feed families. None of these ideas are without their own problems. The question is how do you manage a capitalistic system when classical capitalism does not work?
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