Lower wages = lower unemployment rates. Lower house prices and lower wages. Cut the pay of all workers now. Deflation of prices and wages is good for all. Small pain for long term gain.

Employer sets wages and conditions and worker just has to sign the contract or there is the door. No more Unions and no more minimum wages and barriers to employment.

Wages must be able to compete on the highly competitive free market in direct competition with Asian and African developing nations.

Everyone will be better off if minimum wage laws were removed. 

Thoughts/suggestions on this idea?

Oops.

Thread title should read: "Lower wages = Lower unemployment rates?"

Unemployment rates in China, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc are considerably lower than Europe and North America. Countries without minimum wage laws tend to be better off for all citizens. 

While I agree that lowering/removing minimum wage legislation will help employment figures, a far better solution would be lowering taxes and other costs of employing staff, this could have the same net effect to the employers as reducing minimum wage, without seeing the wage decrease.

Also, cutting income tax and increasing the personal allowance would see those on minimum wage have their real wage increase without any additional cost to the firms.

Cutting income tax and increasing personal allowance should be favoured over increasing the minimum wage when it comes to improving the standards of living on those living on minimum wage.

Cutting taxes on employers should be favoured over decreasing the minimum wage when it comes to trying to improve employment.

Either way, just cutting taxes in general will benefit the economy massively (as long as it's in proportion to the cuts in spending).

That is what they did in Germany if I am right.  The unemployment number schrinked but the % of people who lives in poverty and has a full time job increased with 15%..   I am against it because having a full time job but still have to live in poverty doesn't sound right (except if you have made debts before) lower wages will put many people in a diffcult situation their are already people in line for food stamps who have a full time job..

Of course, most of this is acedemic. Most Governments realized, long ago, that the easiest way to improve employment figures is to lie.

I've gotta say I disagree. Get rid of minimum wage and people will have to work even more to break even. Right now if I worked a minimum wage job full time in BC I'd make according to the Government 1,200$ a month. Now I know right now my basic living expenses are over 900$ and I live below the poverty line in Canada.

Now can you imagine if you cut the minimum wage? How would people be able to survive? I don't live high on the hog most of my meals are Mac and Cheese and stuff. I have to save for a few months to afford video games. Can you imagine how bad off I'd be if minimum wages were cut?

Now if people can't survive because their jobs are paying them too little. That means more people will rely on welfare and food banks to survive. More people will loose their apartments and be forced to live on the streets and without an address they will have even a harder time getting work.

See if we got rid of minimum wages, sure their would be more jobs. But people wouldn't make enough to survive, we would become like China where children would have to start working so the families could get by. Giant factories could open and yes we'd manufacture more stuff here in NA but the quality of life would be shot.

My province has the lowest minimum wage in Canada, at 8$ an hour. But with rising gas, food and rental prices even that isn't enough. So if you give people jobs where they earn 4$-6$ an hour or so, how will they break even or make a living? Right now I'm on welfare so to speak because I can't find work, but I'd make less with a job like your suggesting then I would on welfare, infact I wouldn't be able to survive if I worked full time for a job less then minimum wage.

Example I spend nearly 400$ a month on groceries, after my rent is taken I am actually in debt, luckily I got a credit card before loosing my job. But what if we didn't get minimum wage, heck it would be impossible to survive.

So yes unemployment would drop, but so to would the income of people meaning more poverty. Also unemployment last I checked in Canada was almost back at 8% like it used to be, that isn't that bad considering countries like China, India etc...etc... with low income jobs have much higher unemployment rates.

In the end it would be a short term fix, it would harm the population and would increase the poverty rate. Nothing good would come from it.

I don't get why you keep insisting China has no minimum wage, as I pointed out to you last time you went on your huge political posting spree, China has minimum wage that is lower than the US minimum wage by about the same fraction that the US has lower minimum wages than Australia.

Anyway, I'm fairly certain I remember that last time you were just posting these for the lulz, regardless, when you're trolling, you should at least get your facts right.

As an addependum to the whole 'getting your facts right when trolling' thing, your entire premise is incorrect.

There is no correlation between lack of a fair minimum wage and employment rate.

                                                                                  Unemployment rate (%)

Zimbabwe	95.0	2009 (June)[130]
Nauru	90.0	2004[3]
Liberia	85.0;[77] 88% among young Liberians[78]	2009 (July)
Vanuatu	78.21	1999[124]
Turkmenistan	70.0	2008 (November)[117]
Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)	60.0	2000[3]
Mozambique	60.0	2009
Tajikistan	60.0	2008 (August)[112]
Djibouti	59.0	2007[3]
Namibia	51.2	2008[3

Zimbabwe has no minimum wage

Naura has no minimum wage

Liberia (minimum wage 20 US cents/hour)

I could go on, but there is no point, you and I both know that your argument is bogus.

Fact is, minimum wage and unemployment benefits give people disposable income, which they spend on products and services. In order to sell these products and provide these services, more people need to be employed, reducing unemployment. Unions and minimum wage are required to reduce unemployment.

1)You know no one of my family or friends or all the people I met ever have to do this for their family..You are generalizing something that only counts for a small part ...How small/big it exactly is no idea but you almost sound like the China of the early 90's...

2) What information are you checking?  If you checked a site like CIA world Fact book you see the last years the unemployment numbers are around 4-4,5%...(Talking about China)

scottie said: As an addependum to the whole 'getting your facts right when trolling' thing, your entire premise is incorrect.   There is no correlation between lack of a fair minimum wage and employment rate.                                                                                   Unemployment rate (%)  Zimbabwe 95.0 2009 (June)[130]  Nauru 90.0 2004[3]  Liberia 85.0;[77] 88% among young Liberians[78] 2009 (July)  Vanuatu 78.21 1999[124]  Turkmenistan 70.0 2008 (November)[117]  Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia) 60.0 2000[3]  Mozambique 60.0 2009  Tajikistan 60.0 2008 (August)[112]  Djibouti 59.0 2007[3]  Namibia 51.2 2008[3   Zimbabwe has no minimum wage Naura has no minimum wage Liberia (minimum wage 20 US cents/hour) I could go on, but there is no point, you and I both know that your argument is bogus.   Fact is, minimum wage and unemployment benefits give people disposable income, which they spend on products and services. In order to sell these products and provide these services, more people need to be employed, reducing unemployment. Unions and minimum wage are required to reduce unemployment.

Do you have any countries that are not being completely mismanaged by their governments?