Will Biden raise the federal minimum wage from 7.25 USD per hour to 15 USD?

[AmoreJaz]

I would first single out the way Biden said it (if the text is correct in OP), and these are the following words:

-"President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday said he will ask Congress.
- “There should be a national minimum wage of $15 an hour”.

I will ask someone about something, and there should be something are very common words of politicians, but in at least 90% of cases it is pure populism, because one of the skills of politics is to say what people want to hear. If it was something Biden could do without Congress or the Senate it would be a whole other matter - he has a proposal that depends on a lot of interest, and we all know that lobbying has been brought to perfection in US politics.

I wonder why go with the idea of a 100% increase right away? It is something that will definitely be approved by the workers, but how will the employers deal with it? I assume that employers have to get some tax relief or some other benefits in order to be able to pay a worker a minimum of $15 per hour - or maybe the state will co-finance workers' salaries?

theres more than meets the eyes here. easy to say but there will be a lot of steps to go thru before this will be a reality. Jawhead already listed some of the significant factors if this will just be done in haste. so nope, i dont think they can increase the min wage in a snap. great to hear but not easy to implement. we are still in pandemic crisis, so not favourable to the employers. unless, they want to close down most of the businesses here...

[Ziskinberg]

That's 100% of the present minimum wage, I think it needs to be carefully evaluated since it requires a lot of budget for that to be realized. Politicians always gives promises but sometimes not all that promises will be fulfilled once they are already setting in their position, that's the sad truth,  so let's see how this goes.

[CarnagexD]

I don't think business owners will suffer huge losses from paying their employees fairly. If anything, this allows the people to have more power in their hand especially those in the borderline poverty whose forced to work for multiple jobs to make ends meet. I don't think it's unfair for them to earn more yet still fairly for a fair day's pay.

[BigBoy89]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/14/biden-calls-to-raise-the-federal-minimum-wage-to-15-per-hour.html

The federal minimum wage is poised to get its first update in more than a decade.

President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday said he will ask Congress to boost the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour from the current $7.25 per hour. The federal minimum wage has not been increased since 2009.

The call to raise the federal minimum wage is part of a larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package called the American Rescue Plan aimed at helping boost the U.S. economy from the damage of the pandemic.

“There should be a national minimum wage of $15 an hour,” Biden said during a Thursday night speech. “Nobody working 40 hours a week should be living below the poverty line.”

Will the US business suffer from the increased labor costs?
Will Biden and the democrats keep their promise?
Stupid question:Will the American working class buy more Bitcoin,if they have bigger salaries?
Some economists say that the current federal minimum wage is way lower than the labor productivity,so increasing the minimum wage will lower the profits of the business,while boosting the consumption of the working class.

IMO $15 is unrealistic, but the Democrats & Republicans can reach an agreement around $10-$11 as it's not increased for more than ten years.

$15 is too high for more of the pooper states and could lead to many business bankruptcies.

[Sithara007]

IMO $15 is unrealistic, but the Democrats & Republicans can reach an agreement around $10-$11 as it's not increased for more than ten years.

$15 is too high for more of the pooper states and could lead to many business bankruptcies.

These sort of statements will make the Democrat base happy and Biden is only concerned about that. Any increase in minimum wage will be having a catastrophic impact on the businesses, at a time when the pandemic has wiped out most of their business. If they are forced to increase their wages, it would mean only one thing. Many of the fringe workers will lose their employment. Either the businesses will be forced to cut the strength, or they will be forced to declare bankruptcy. If implemented, this will be the most ridiculous pandemic-era policy.

[slapper]

Raising the minimum wage will strongly affect the lives of everyone living in the USA, especially when they double the amount like this. This improvement deeply ameliorates the society where workers and normal citizens are given more money to spend on anything that they want and I do believe that some of them will choose to buy bitcoin.

However, we are still very far from this implementation since it is just the beginning of Biden's term. Hope that he will do a lot to change the country, most of all, repel the attack of covid-19

[2double0]

USA used their stimulus checks to buy enough btc and it is proven that during their phase 2, we saw so much buys from their side. If their wages will increase, so their expenditures too will not remain the same because either they will look and go for a change in their lifestyle or higher inflation will take place which will balance their new wages with the expenses they used to pay less when they had lesser wages, so an equation may be seen.

[uneng]

Will the US business suffer from the increased labor costs?
Will Biden and the democrats keep their promise?
Stupid question:Will the American working class buy more Bitcoin,if they have bigger salaries?
Some economists say that the current federal minimum wage is way lower than the labor productivity,so increasing the minimum wage will lower the profits of the business,while boosting the consumption of the working class.

That is pure populism. The minimum wage is raised, but the costs of everything else rises proportionally, if not more than the minimum wage itself. I mean you can increase the minimum wage, but it doesn't mean you are increasing the purchasing power.

Furthermore I will give an example: if I'm a business owner and have to raise my employees' wages I will raise my services costs to customers so I can dilute this *loss* and keep my profit intact. In the end the customers (who are also earning 15$ hourly) will have to pay more for the same services they were paying cheaper before.

[Princejebs]

I don't really know how their system works but I know American doesn't belong to a party system, it has been either the Republicans or the Democrat.
This is about national adjustment that need so thorough investigation before they are pass on an even if they are, ot everyone would like to pass the vote in the House for the first hearing.
I love Biden but I just feel his soft feeling will cause him more harm than good

[Hydrogen]

California implemented mandatory minimum wage hikes to $13 in january 2020. With catastrophic results.

Many small US businesses are taxed and regulated so heavily. Mandatory wage hikes force them to file bankruptcy and close businesses down.

This is one of the driving forces behind residents and business owners fleeing california for other US states.

[redsun114]

Do not be worried about the economy of these places that had to close shop during covid, or would have to close shop during the period where they are not making money, you know why? Because if they can't afford to pay their workers 15 bucks an hour, they shouldn't be a business at all.

Can you imagine a company that bankrupts all because instead of paying 7.25 to their workers, they paid 15 bucks and that was all it took, they are all gone and they are done and they can't survive and first they lay off workers and then they bankrupt? That company should be gone anyway, why should there be companies like that? Let them get lost and there will be bigger and better places trust me.

Amazon is not even paying 15 bucks, they are paying more in many places, and they find workers in bunches, like people line up to work there, let the small unsuccessful ones go away and let their owners become amazon workers instead. That is what you get for not being capable of running with 2020 budgets and offer 1970 salaries to people.

[DrBeer]

And what is the purpose of such a step? Benefit?
For example, I understand that raising the minimum level, the owners will be forced to reduce their profits and turnover funds, as well as pay more taxes, which will almost certainly lead to a wave of bankruptcies. People's incomes will grow, consumption will theoretically grow, but bankruptcies will lead to a reduction in the filling of the market with goods and services, which means there will be a shortage of goods. In one word, dubious benefits

[Reid]

That means passing it to Congress first.
It's not just Biden that can decide everything even if he is the president.

Congress means owners of businesses or friend of friends of business owners that will argue about it.
I doubt it will be passed that early without an economic breakdown or even if they will be bountiful for the next year.
They would rather give that stimulus check over and over rather than have a law of giving out $15 per hour which will last for a long time.

[stompix]

Can you imagine a company that bankrupts all because instead of paying 7.25 to their workers, they paid 15 bucks and that was all it took, they are all gone and they are done and they can't survive and first they lay off workers and then they bankrupt? That company should be gone anyway, why should there be companies like that? Let them get lost and there will be bigger and better places trust me.

Yeah right, it's only 7.75$.
Multiply this by the number of workers and the days in a year and if that is peanuts to you feel free to send me that amount to my bitcoin address.
I love how people are so giving when it's not their money, but I bet you're not willing to pay somebody when it works for you that generously, typical socialist behavior, easy to talk about spending when your not spending a dime out of your own pocket.

You say so easily that business could go bankrupt, how about people not willing to work for low ages and quit their jobs and seek a better one?!
I'm willing to bet that a large number of businesses closing down ain't going to relieve the pressure on the jobs market right now, you're just adding fuel to the fire and throwing a bit of gas on your house too.

That is pure populism.

Exactly.
His whole program is aimed at buying votes from the poor while keeping them captive in their current state.
The same strategy as in 3rd world countries, poor people will be willing to vote for them on those empty promises not realizing that they will get paid twice while everything goes up in 2.5 in price. I've seen this shit so many times in Europe I'm getting tired of it.

[justdimin]

The minimum wage is raised, but the costs of everything else rises proportionally, if not more than the minimum wage itself. I mean you can increase the minimum wage, but it doesn't mean you are increasing the purchasing power.

Furthermore I will give an example: if I'm a business owner and have to raise my employees' wages I will raise my services costs to customers so I can dilute this *loss* and keep my profit intact. In the end the customers (who are also earning 15$ hourly) will have to pay more for the same services they were paying cheaper before.

The purchasing power changes from state to state. There are already states with 15 bucks an hour, some of them very expensive places and some of them are not so much, there are also places with under 10 dollar minimum wage, some of them again expensive while others not so much.

Basically it all comes down to public situation, could a $15 per hour increase the prices? It definitely can for some places, but doesn't have to do that in every single state, some states will just continue like nothing happened.

But this is about basically preventing starvation wages, because let's be honest 7.25 per hour is starvation, people work 39 hours a week in most cases so that companies doe not have to give full benefits, that means 1131 dollars per month, there are no states, no cities, no towns that you can live with 1131 dollars and survive, that is barely enough for food and I am not even talking about other expenses. So to justify 7.25 is not enough, because you can't justify starvation.

[Silberman]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/14/biden-calls-to-raise-the-federal-minimum-wage-to-15-per-hour.html

The federal minimum wage is poised to get its first update in more than a decade.

President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday said he will ask Congress to boost the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour from the current $7.25 per hour. The federal minimum wage has not been increased since 2009.

The call to raise the federal minimum wage is part of a larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package called the American Rescue Plan aimed at helping boost the U.S. economy from the damage of the pandemic.

“There should be a national minimum wage of $15 an hour,” Biden said during a Thursday night speech. “Nobody working 40 hours a week should be living below the poverty line.”

Will the US business suffer from the increased labor costs?
Will Biden and the democrats keep their promise?
Stupid question:Will the American working class buy more Bitcoin,if they have bigger salaries?
Some economists say that the current federal minimum wage is way lower than the labor productivity,so increasing the minimum wage will lower the profits of the business,while boosting the consumption of the working class.

Politicians for the most part do not understand or do not want to understand the economy, on the surface this may seem like a good move to help those that earn less, but you know what is it really going to happen? Businesses are going to either fire half of their staff and those that keep their jobs now need to work twice as hard, the second option is they could reduce the hours of their staff so they can pay less, or finally automate most processes and replace most of their employees as technology becomes cheaper than them, there is no way to force businesses to pay more if they do not want it and this measure could be counterproductive and produce even more unemployment in a moment where jobs are more scarce than ever.

[uneng]

The minimum wage is raised, but the costs of everything else rises proportionally, if not more than the minimum wage itself. I mean you can increase the minimum wage, but it doesn't mean you are increasing the purchasing power.

Furthermore I will give an example: if I'm a business owner and have to raise my employees' wages I will raise my services costs to customers so I can dilute this *loss* and keep my profit intact. In the end the customers (who are also earning 15$ hourly) will have to pay more for the same services they were paying cheaper before.

The purchasing power changes from state to state. There are already states with 15 bucks an hour, some of them very expensive places and some of them are not so much, there are also places with under 10 dollar minimum wage, some of them again expensive while others not so much.

Basically it all comes down to public situation, could a $15 per hour increase the prices? It definitely can for some places, but doesn't have to do that in every single state, some states will just continue like nothing happened.

But this is about basically preventing starvation wages, because let's be honest 7.25 per hour is starvation, people work 39 hours a week in most cases so that companies doe not have to give full benefits, that means 1131 dollars per month, there are no states, no cities, no towns that you can live with 1131 dollars and survive, that is barely enough for food and I am not even talking about other expenses. So to justify 7.25 is not enough, because you can't justify starvation.

Well, it may depend from state to state, but from my own experience raising minimum wage never solved or even reduced financial problems in my country. It has only political marketing effect instead of practical effect in citizens lives. Actually a minimum wage isn't enough to live anywhere I suppose. A minimum wage here is about 200$ dollars and someone can't afford home, food and another basic expenses with such amount of fiat, but the minimum wage keeps increasing every new year...

In my opinion rather than increasing wages the living costs should decrease and that is possible through technology advancement and adoption, like alternative sources of energy, for an example. But the government doesn't look very interested in this kind of political platform.

[vaultman]

Obviously, sooner or later, in all states, the minimum hourly wage will be $15, but if the law on increasing hourly wages is passed now, it will still gradually increase the hourly wage, as it was before. In NY and California, in my opinion, it is imperative to raise the minimum hourly wage to $18, since there are completely different living conditions, everything is much more expensive than in other states.

[Silberman]

Well, it may depend from state to state, but from my own experience raising minimum wage never solved or even reduced financial problems in my country. It has only political marketing effect instead of practical effect in citizens lives. Actually a minimum wage isn't enough to live anywhere I suppose. A minimum wage here is about 200$ dollars and someone can't afford home, food and another basic expenses with such amount of fiat, but the minimum wage keeps increasing every new year...

In my opinion rather than increasing wages the living costs should decrease and that is possible through technology advancement and adoption, like alternative sources of energy, for an example. But the government doesn't look very interested in this kind of political platform.

The minimum wage increases are just a political move and nothing more and it will continue to do so unless you could afford a normal life with that wage, as I have said before the markets decide what it is the value of things, and just like the price of bitcoin the value of our time is decided by the market, minimum wage is an attempt to create a floor for the value of human labour but the more they raise this for things that the market does not believe are worth it you will see alternative solutions being employed, so at the end those that are supposedly being helped by this measure will not be as businesses find ways to avoid paying for it.

[Febo]

Will Biden raise the federal minimum wage from 7.25 USD per hour to 15 USD?
Will the US business suffer from the increased labor costs?

Yes he will. It is already set. But will be gradually and will take years. US business will not suffer a bit. Companies will invest more in automation so the easiest jobs will be made by robots and people will take more complex jobs and be paid accordingly.