Jon-Erich said:
Switzerland doesn't have a minimum wage and they seem to be doing great. In fact a few years ago, they had a national referendum to have a $25 minimum wage and the voters voted it down because most people there apparently make more than that. Having that artificial standard would have given some business owners the insentive to pay pay people less. That's what a minimum wage does. It creates an artificial standard that is not reflective of the state of the economy or the marketplace. Depending on the wages, having a minimum wage could either cause someone to get paid far less than what they should be getting paid or far more than what is economically viable, much like what we're seeing in Washington state. If the wages were more reflective of what the marketplace demanded, most people probably would be making a decent wage, just like in Switzerland. Then again, Switzerland hasn't been involved in a war in over 200 years and is far more fiscally responsible than the United States, which is largely why that country so well off economically. |
Switzerland also has hundreds of collective bargaining agreements covering the majority of its workers which actually does impose a minimum wage, which is the 9th highest minimum wage in the world, so it isn't exactly entirely accurate to imply that the Swiss have no minimum wage. They just handle the concept differently.
I wouldn't oppose the USA shifting over to that type of system, but it would require some pretty massive changes (which I would assume the people against minimum wage would hate)
