The hard truth about wages.

My current city of residence is contemplating a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour. Is it a coincidence that this is the exact same figure President Obama is pushing as a minimum wage? Of course not. Our local government is dominated by Democrats who place allegiance to political party above all else. This action is nothing more than a declaration of their love for and loyalty to a Democrat president.

So, what's wrong with a minimum wage of $10.10? Or $11.11? Or $9.09. Or any other amount? It is wrong because price fixing is unfair.

When someone employs a worker, they are agreeing to a swap: a certain amount of money for a certain amount of work. It is a fair square trade. How does it make sense for a government, with the full force of law, to set a minimum for one side of that trade? Why not a minimum for the other side?

Imagine a "minimum work law". Suppose we write the law to require a minimum of forty eight hours of work, for an unspecified weekly wage. No one would consider that to be fair.

Setting a minimum wage is never the end of the argument. A business must make a profit to stay in business. If wages are raised to an unprofitable level, one of three things will happen: 1. The business will close its doors. 2. The business will raise its prices (if competition permits). 3. The business will develop a way to operate without the expensive employees.

Already we are seeing some restaurants install computer stations at tables, allowing customers to order without a waitress. That is simply the latest version of sales by machine. As a teenager, I worked for a company that operated cigarette vending machines. The company sold truckloads of cigarettes... no sales clerk... no cashier.

Each of the above enumerated events will result in the loss of jobs. The minimum wage may help a few, but that help will come entirely at the expense of other employees, and often also of the consumer.