# Should the Minimum Wage Be Increased to $15?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-minimum-wage-be-increased-to-15/933945
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [February 28, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-minimum-wage-be-increased-to-15/933945 "2021-02-28T14:26:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 66

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### Author: ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-minimum-wage-be-increased-to-15/933945/66 "2021-02-28T22:37:58Z")

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I remember watching Hanauer’s talk. Watched again from that 2:50 mark.

It’s rare for me to say “not a thing with which I disagree …,” but, yeah: “A rising tide lifts all ships” is simply another chapter in The Big Lie, and could not have _less_ in common with the trickle down that we have yet to repudiate.

You may find part of another SD MW discussion interesting. I’ll humbly point you to one of my contributions:

> [@Effects of Minimum Wage](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effects-of-minimum-wage/920726/60):
>
> That’s a fair point, but we don’t see relatively affluent people being blamed for driving up the stock market. And … yet … as I mentioned earlier in this thread … those investment dollars aren’t in mason jars in the yard, in mattresses, or in piggy banks. They’re in the pipeline and are somewhat traceable. As is money put in banks and other savings vehicles. Meaning … that money is being spent. In the process, it creates upward pricing pressure. But we aren’t blaming the wealthy for their …

I also think it isn’t too far afield to talk about tax policy (as Hanuer does) that contributes to this clusterfuckery:

> [@Do the rich pay their fair share?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-rich-pay-their-fair-share/921817):
>
> I did a quick search and found very little specifically about this. In association with the latest story about DJT’s tax returns, I heard a statistic that the wealthiest Americans pay an average of 24% in Federal Income Tax. I presume they’re talking about [Effective Tax Rate](https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/taxes/what-is-the-effective-tax-rate-15102865). But Effective Tax Rate reminds me of an old joke in medicine: The surgery was a complete success, but the patient died. Sometimes, our definitions differ from the definitions used by others. According to [Pew Research](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/06/a-closer-look-at-who-does-and-doesnt-pay-u-s-income-tax/): …

I try to avoid hyperbole, but I don’t _think_ it’s _insanely_ hyperbolic to say that we haven’t gone so awfully far from the plantation mentality in this country.

One of the primary arguments that the South asserted in the runup to the Civil War _was that_ ending the Peculiar Institution would be devastating to their economy.

Which evokes the mellifluous, dulcet tones of the world’s smallest violin.

Can you hear it ? I can.

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