If boosting minimum wage should reduce poverty, what stops a minimum-wage worker from squandering the increase?

Good question and I thank YOU for exercising my brain today. Now, reducing minimum wages, not going to happen. Why?

Increase of revenue for the Fed. Gov't. Here in Canada, particularly in Ontario the minimum wage is $10/hour.

Pretty good right? Well on the surface it is but now the cost of electricity has gone up, taxes (income and property) have gone up because the $10/hour puts the worker in a higher tax bracket and increasing cost of city services and wages have not really kept up. Food has increased in price, which is caused by forces other than wages.So we have demand pull inflation.

Where the demand for resources like electricity, food has increased while wages have actually in effect declined. This is due to the loss in purchasing power of your so called 'raise' in minimum wage. Wages would have to be around $10/day or thereabouts to 'compete' with these 3rd world countries.

However, if we in North America can produce more than the 3rd world countries with less waste and less defective products, then from an efficiency or production point of view, we are the better producer with more products with less waste. Versus lower wages, higher waste and less productive and more defective products. I forgot to mention that in North America we have higher standards for our products to meet.

I have never heard of a North American food producer whose products are made in North America, have instances of sawdust, or card board in their cereal or lead in the paint for kids toys. Lower wages here in North America would not necessarily result in companies like Apple, et al, suddenly moving production back to our shores. Remember these companies shifted their production to an area where there is less restrictions on food and product safety, not to mention all the environmental regulations they have to adhere to.

Lower wages doesn't mean that there will be a trickle down effect, if history is any indication. What would have to happen is there would have to be more of an 'entrepreneurial' environment in order for the unemployed/under employed to be more productive to society. Micro loans to small businesses would help ease the unemployment and get people off the public dole.

Instead we have an environment of a socialistic type of government. Where the state tells the citizens to jump and how high. More entrepreneurs would mean more people working and making a decent living.

The reason why they won't reduce the minimum wage is because it's poltical suicide. Remeber when it comes to governing it's not just economics but it's economics plus poltics. It's the reason why 47% don't pay income tax but at the same time don't realize they are getting screwed with the devalution of there money every time the fed has to turn on there printing presses to pay more of the country's debt.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.