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From: hank.walker@UNH.CS.CMU.EDU
Newsgroups: mod.politics
Subject: Minimum Wage
Message-ID: <12240764545.25.MCGREW@RED.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Sun, 21-Sep-86 15:27:54 EDT
Article-I.D.: RED.12240764545.25.MCGREW
Posted: Sun Sep 21 15:27:54 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 22-Sep-86 01:47:44 EDT
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Reply-To: hank.walker@unh.cs.cmu.edu
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I used to believe that lowering the minimum wage would reduce teenage
unemployment.  Unfortunately there are some inconvenient facts that
stand in the way of this theory.  First the government in the past has
provided benefits to employers that effectively meant they were paying
less than minimum wage to unemployed people that they hired.  Second,
many businesses in many parts of the country (like fast food
restaurants out in the suburbs) offer starting pay above minimum wage.
The real problem seems to be that the jobs are not in the same place
as the unemployed, and transportation to those jobs is difficult at
best.  It is possible to buy a junky car and minimum insurance and get
to those jobs and come out ahead, but the entry barrier is sufficient
to require higher than minimum wage to attract enough job applicants.
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