In Response...

This weekend I read a commentary on one of my peer’s government blogs; and it got me thinking.You can find a direct link to the blog Me,Myself, and My Government, where you can read the commentary.If not, here is the gist of the article. The author proposes that the national government raise the minimum wage to seven dollars an hour to help Americans deal with the rising cost of living. The commentary goes on to say that this increase in the minimum wage will help boost our “economic spending.” This got me thinking, could it really be this simple? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Here are a few reasons why this proposal would have a very minimal, if any effect on our economy. In 2007, about 2.3% of all hourly paid workers here in America reported wages at or below minimum wage ($5.85), or roughly about 1.7 million people. That is a very small number of Americans when compared to the 75.9 million hourly paid workers reported in 2007. These numbers were taken directly from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By no means do I disagree with a minimum wage change, I just don’t know if it will have a significant impact.

When it comes to rising gas prices: this is a trend that will continue until the day we die. Perhaps we may receive temporary relief from the rising gas prices, but we have to face the ultimate truth. One day our planet will stop yielding crude oil; that is one thing that is almost guaranteed. I am sure that when that day comes; oil will be a luxury, these are the facts. I doubt in our lifetimes we will ever see the day oil production stops completely (at least I hope not), but the day will come.

As for the last comment of the article, “Were going to end up the poorest country in ten years if this keeps up.”, I don’t think that this is the case at all, granted I am no mathematician. The Unites States is ranked tenth in the world for GDP (gross domestic product), with around 45,000. Our economy would have to practically disintegrate in order for us to fall to one of the poorest countries in the world. For example, some African nations have GDP’s less than 500. Now like I said I am no mathematician, but provided Fort Knox doesn’t get robbed, and the dollar collapse: I don’t think we will be one of the poorest nations in the world.