Dylan Tuliszewski
Microeconomics
Professor Bajwa
13 November 2013
Against Raising Minimum Wage

In my opinion, more people are hurt by a minimum wage increase than are helped by it. Increasing the minimum wage helps some low wage workers in the short run but is detrimental to the majority of society in the long run. An increase in the minimum wage helps some low wage workers in the short run. If a worker earned less than the new minimum wage, it is beneficial to them to get an increase in their hourly wage, as long as the prices of goods and services stays the same and the company they work for is not forced to downsize. In spite of a temporary benefit to one group of workers, an increase in the minimum wage is harmful to several other groups. Employers, some low wage employees, and society as a whole are hurt by the increase. Employers are harmed by an increase in the minimum wage. The increase causes a company’s cost of operation to go up. Higher input prices decrease a company’s profits. Because of the higher cost of labor, an employer cannot employ as many workers. This causes a decrease in the company’s productivity, which also decreases their profits. Small businesses especially have a difficult time accommodating increases in minimum wage because they do not have as large of a budget to work with. Some low wage workers lose their jobs as a result of an increase in minimum wage. The company they work for may decide to let some of their low wage employees go to offset the increase in the cost of labor. Individuals applying for low wage or entry-level positions are also harmed by an increase in minimum wage. The laws of supply and demand are at work in this. The law of supply states that as the price of a good rises, the quantity supplied of the good increases and as the price of a good falls, the supply of that good decreases. The law of