whether you re talking about the deficit, debt, tax cuts, tax increase. you don t want to raise taxes when the economy is stumbling along. or when it s good. you don t want to cut taxes, you know, when you ve got massive deficit, and, you know, bring along inflation. so the concept right now if anybody thinks we got an economy that s strong enough to increase the minimum wage, go ahead, good luck, california. i mean, is that just me? no. but let s lower the minimum wage if that will help. okay, that s fine if that s the argument you want to take. i ll just say now might not be a good time to increase the minimum wage because i don t know that cutting the minimum wage will create new jobs and will create economic growth but i do know raising it right now is not a good time. when we got 4% growth, then talk
explain how the solid corporate profits and stock market gains in recent years have co-existed with diminishing median wages and stubbornly high unemployment. raising the minimum wage should help shift some of the profits now being captured by the business owners and investors back into the economy because unlike upper-income americans, minimum-wage earners aren t savers. they spend. you got right now consumer spending is real estate manger stubbornly low. so if you force businesses to raise the minimum wage, you will, of course, raise costs on the number one cost to small business, which are, which is labor, and so if i could finish, please. you raise the cost of doing business which will then make prices go up even higher, which
but i made my point. mark, you disagree? take that down. i think it s arbitrary saying it shouldn t be raised now if it s not at the exact right level. maybe it s not. you re missing my point. we don t know what the quote exact right level is because that s an arbitrary question. what i think will be different from what you think. and what mike and willie think and mika thinks. but the one thing we to know is the economy is struggling right now. and so, would raising the minimum wage right now during a struggling economy, would that help or hurt? might help. might boost consumer spending. that s the debate. we ll leave with you the last word. we ll be right back. i was made to work. make my mark with pride. create moments of value. build character through quality.
sent you and e-mail regarding my segment. we were talking about the minimum wage. my father is headed to warsaw but watching the program on his sling box. heard our discussion. he knew herman kahn, he quoted him no serious person could be for any minimum wage which reduces hiring. you got to say minimum wage should be zero or a living wage one or the other. and herman kahn said it doesn t make any sense. get rid of it. that s an option too. you want no change. you got to balance it, you got to calibrate. you got figure out what the demand is for jobs. if the demand is not there to have people hire once you do the
be hurt by this that they are, you know, gripped with fear that they will come tumbling down. there s a lot of fear out in the economy now. we had a flat stagnant economy. consumer spending remains low. exactly. if you think now is the time to raise labor costs, so you raise prices on the working class and middle class people across the board, then i would simply say that who ever would be making these suggestions don t understand basic economics. what if we get rid of the minimum wage. would that be good for the economy? i think the minimum wage is where it s at and we have to wait for the economy to grow. we have to wait for consumer, consumer spending to go up. consumer confidence to go up. and as the economy grows then yeah, that s it s a balancing act. like everything in the economy.