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Addicting Info – Koch Brothers Credibility Shot After $15 Minimum Wage Slashes Unemployment

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via Addicting Info – Koch Brothers Credibility Shot After $15 Minimum Wage Slashes Unemployment.

AUTHOR: NATHANIEL DOWNES MAY 29, 2015

The Koch Brothers sank everything into trying to block a $15/hr minimum wage in the small Seattle suburb of Seatac. Despite the predictions of doom and gloom, the town has experienced strong growth over the past year. They have turned to alternative avenues to shut down the effort, to no avail. And after witnessing the results, the city of Seattle pushed through its own measure to raise the cities minimum wage to $15/hr over several years.

The result of these moves has been that King County, where Seatac and Seattle are, now has hit an unemployment rate of only 3.3%, a rate not seen since early 2008. While a pizza chain did close shop under the threat of having to pay a living wage, otherwise, business is booming. Rather than being able to claim victory by Seattle losing jobs, instead we find an increase in demand for everything from plumbers to car rental, and an increase of employment as a result.

Indeed, instead of closed businesses, we are witnessing business opportunity expanding across the region. Indeed, the airport attached to Seatac was found to be the fastest growing hub airport in the United States. Driving along the main avenues, one finds new construction, not shuttered businesses. It has been a huge boon to the entire region as a result.

Of course, there are still those who stick their head in the sand, and simply argue that it is impossible for unemployment to drop if the wages increase, even as it happens. These people cling to their discredited economists while the rest of us in the real world witness the growth and prosperity which happens when the workers can afford to purchase.

While $15/hr is a good start, it is not the end. Inflation happens, and it will need to be raised again in the near future. Nationwide, there is an effort to raise the minimum wage to $12/hr. Once we’ve unlocked the wages of our workers, they purchase, and purchasing raises demand for products and services. It is simple economics, described all the way back by Adam Smith. It is time we stopped listening to the economic minds who tell us to cut, and instead recognize that yes, $15/hr is not only good for workers, it is good for business.

 


Filed under: human rights & social justice, justice & law, politics, world affairs & current events, us politics, western hemisphere Tagged: $15 minimum wage, employment levels, king county, koch brothers, living wage, seatac, seattle, social justice, washington

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