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California's $15-an-Hour Minimum Wage May Spur Automation (computerworld.com)
An anonymous readers links to an article on ComputerWorld: For many California business groups, the state's decision to gradually raise its minimum wage to $15 by 2022 is a terrible thing. But for its technology industry, it may be a plus. Higher wages, says the California Restaurant Association, will force businesses to face "undesirable" options, including cutting staff, raising prices and adopting automation. But a higher minimum wage will "signal to tech companies and entrepreneurs" to look at the restaurant industry, said Darren Tristano, president of Technomic, a research group focused on the restaurant industry. The state's governor and legislators reached an agreement Monday to raise the wages. "I think there are a lot of tech companies that are looking at the restaurant industry to accelerate their growth," said Tristano. The restaurant industry is primed for change, said Tristano, "Many of the routines that take place in restaurants are not very different from 30 to 40 years ago," he said.
It hit at least one bookseller pretty hard.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
People would spend time doing what they wanted to do which could include art, literature, sport, playing video games, learning a language, studying science, travelling and many other things. Things that people can't do now due to financial restrictions. I'd love to spend my days playing soccer, lifting weights, learning Spanish, playing guitar, yoga and many other things. At the moment I have a full-time job so I can only devote a small amount of time relatively speaking to some of those things above. If I live long enough to retire I'm going to be doing at least the less strenuous of the abovementioned.
To be fair, the california hike is actually five one-dollar/hour hike a year apart.
That's technology trickling down again, which side are you arguing for? The modern computer-owning worker makes less than a less technologically-endowed worker would have 30-40 years ago, adjusted for inflation. At the same time, the number of people who collectively own half the world's wealth could now travel together in a double-decker bus, and nobody would have to stand.
Wealth sure as hell doesn't trickle down, it rushes up.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Okay, so why does it remove entry-level jobs for minorities but apparently not for white teenagers?
Because white kids have a lot more opportunities. Many of them don't want a job, because they are too busy studying for college. Or they work part-time at their daddy's business. Black and Hispanic kids are at the bottom, so when that last rung is taken away, they get hurt the most.
For a clear illustration of what happens when you push "white" solutions onto communities where they don't apply, look what happened in Puerto Rico. The economy was doing well, and it was a hub for low end manufacturing, mostly paying about $3 an hour. Then the courts ruled that federal minimum wage laws had to apply to PR. So overnight the wages went up to $7.25, and the jobs disappeared. So instead of making $3 an hour, the workers were making $0 an hour, debts piled up as people stopped paying taxes, and now PR is bankrupt, and seeking a federal bailout.
What happened to PR will likely not happen in California, because the change will happen more slowly, and California has a far more diverse economy. But the same principles apply, and the worst effects will be on the people that can least afford it.