Liberals always push for increases to the minimum wage without acknowledging the unintended economic impacts these changes would inevitably cause.
This meme from Declaration of Memes captures exactly what happens when you artificially inflate the cost of labor, companies adjust to offset the increased cost. They'll cut jobs, raise prices on customers, or automate. Maybe all of the above.
— Declaration of Memes (@LibertyCappy) July 16, 2023
In his classic work, Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell explains it this way:
By the simplest and most basic economics, a price artificially raised tends to cause more to be supplied and less to be demanded than when prices are left to be determined by supply and demand in a free market.
What does this mean for the McDonald's worker in the meme? If the government forces McDonald's to pay $25 an hour when the value of his labor is actually $10 an hour, hordes more people than currently want to work at McDonald's are going to say 'Hey! I'll work at McDonald's for $25!'. At the same time, McDonald's is going to say 'We have to meet our profit margins, so we either need to raise prices or reduce labor'.
In this scenario, the government increased the supply of labor for these McDonald's jobs, while the demand is simultaneously shrinking because McDonald's will be looking to reduce their labor force.
Bang up job, liberals. The robots are gonna love you.
The minimum wage has always been $0/hr. https://t.co/Mvb9rl3Ig6
— David F. Baskwill (@dfbaskwill) July 16, 2023
Who's going to get those $25 McDonald's jobs? Some will just be eliminated. The others will go to the most qualified individuals, probably people who were working different jobs before but now have an incentive to work the McDonald's job.
Guess who loses out? The people's whose skills are worth $10 an hour. These will often be young people or those who need to gain work experience so they can increase their earning potential. Now they make the real minimum wage: $0.
'The real minimum wage is always zero.' — Thomas Sowell
Well done, everyone! You've hurt the very people you intended to help.
Yup
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2023
People who actually run businesses and understand basic economics see this clearly.
Democrats who want to be elected by making false promises probably understand this too.
The minimum wage job was never intended to be a career or a job that could support a family. First jobs, part time jobs, retirees needing a little extra income. Every time the minimum wage is raided jobs are lost. Every. Time.
— Barry Fahey (@Fahey9Fahey) July 16, 2023
These are the people most hurt by inflating the price of labor through minimum wage laws.
It's common for those of us who are older to say young people just don't want to work anymore. Well, they have to learn to work, and progressives are committed to pricing them out of the labor market from the jobs they need to gain work experience.
“Mom they raised the minimum wage to $30/hr” “then I got fired and replaced by a machine”
— Indie Liberty (@IndieLiberty) July 16, 2023
That's how it be.
I work part-time at McDonald's when my son is in school. And I tried explaining to some of these libs I worked with if minimum goes up so does everything else! Welcome to 2023 🤖
— Cat1776 (@CaitlinA1776) July 16, 2023
That's the other side of the coin. Sure, companies will look to reduce labor, but it will likely be a multipronged approach, including raising prices.
Hey, you now make more money, but everything also costs more. Congratulations!
And just like that, the ice cream machine was never broken again, and there was zero fights, while waiting for your food actually came out in less than 5 minutes, correct. pic.twitter.com/bK45JZoI4q
— Reality Bias News 🇺🇸 (@realitybiasnews) July 16, 2023
Other Twitter users didn't think the idea of robots preparing their food sounded all that bad.
Let's be honest here: Nobody believes the milkshake machine is actually broken down, right? It's a pain in the butt to clean and they want to go home as soon as their shift ends. LOL.
At least the robot wont forget the pickles on my burger!
— TheRuck (@ruck8675309) July 16, 2023
We're on team 'Get Our Order Right'. Ha!
Here for Commie tears
— EnTrappt (@entrappt) July 16, 2023
Yeah, the libs in the replies obviously didn't agree with the meme's conclusion … or economic realities, apparently.
— J XIII 🇺🇸 (@joshcharlie13) July 16, 2023
LOLOLOL! It's all in the messaging, eh?
Machines can work 24/7; they don’t get sick, don’t demand raises, and never go on strike. The math is easy when people price themselves out of the labor force.
— LoneWolf907 (@LoneWolf907) July 16, 2023
You can't defeat the basic laws of economics with wishful thinking and good intentions.
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