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    HoldMeCloserTonyDanzigHamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 12:37pm

    I offer you this:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/…

    From 8,000 employees (6,000 of which were union) down to 1,170 all because wages were too high to compete.

    The 6,900 people who lost their jobs might beg to differ when you say “Raising wages is better than not raising wages. We can all agree on that.” Not trying to pick a fight, just offering the other side of the coin.

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      Sid and FinancyHoldMeCloserTonyDanzig
      7/12/16 12:46pm

      It’s amazing that there were billions just sitting around for private equity to extract, while workers were bankrupting the company. Finance!

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      Peter ThielHoldMeCloserTonyDanzig
      7/12/16 12:47pm

      One person on this site understands basic economics.

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    YttriumHamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 1:19pm

    In the reality of the situation, does any human really need to make over 250K or 500K after taxes in a year?

    It is an extreme look at the situation, but if we have a minimum wage why not a maximum at the numbers listed above, and again after tax.

    What happened to doing a good job and being adequately rewarded for it? At what point does the pursuit of obscene wealth override that of doing a good job.

    Even at the company i work for there are managers that manipulate and play politics not for the benefit of the company or those that work under them but to advance their own personal interests. This has always hurt the company but it continues because taking action is seen as a sign of weakness from their boss. Would not capping wages not perhaps solve some of this issue.

    What happened to people pursuing a job because they wanted to do it and not for the pure pursuit of money.

    At what point does a wage simply become too much?

    Companies can put the extra money back into its lower payed employees, creating a better working environment and lifestyle for their families. Put the money back into the company to improve efficiency or health and safety. Reduce the price of their products and sell more as a result. Contribute more to charitable causes.

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      SarDeliacYttrium
      7/12/16 1:59pm

      In the reality of the situation, does any human need to eat more than a couple thousand calories a day of basic proteins, fats, and carbohydrates? Nobody needs Kobe beef or Russian caviar or M&M’s or Kewpie mayonnaise. Soylent for everyone forever in a quantity based on your height, weight, and BMR. That’s all you need, after all.

      There is a certain segment of humanity that views “need” much differently; I’m not one of them, but I am familiar with a non-trivial quantity of them. There’s very little that can reasonably be done in a “free” country about them—at least on the acquisition side. On the expenditure side, though, there’s lots that can be done. We’re just not doing it, because that segment noted above is very good at buying people to ensure they continue to get their way.

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      YttriumSarDeliac
      7/12/16 2:10pm

      there are needs yes, and there are margins above that. When looking at wages and what a person basic need of living is. At what point does there become an upper limit? Taking your calorie intake, a person making more then 250K a year can be seen as ingesting thousands upon thousands of calories every day, not for a propose but just because they can. After tax i am at around 50K so 250 is 5 times myself, calories if i take in say 2000 that would be like someone taking in 10K a day.

      Somewhere there must be a limit to gluttony for the health of society.

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    crayoneaterHamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 12:40pm

    Why not just make large corporations directly responsible for 150% of the dollars spent on their employee’s public assistance requests? Year to year, tack on whatever amount goes to their staff from public coffers, in whatever public assistance program they may use, as a direct tax to the company plus a penalty. The rest of us shouldn’t subsidize your profits through your poor pay.

    (and yes, I get that this would be very, very difficult to operationalize, but let a man throw odd ideas out there)

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      Quasar Funkcrayoneater
      7/12/16 12:48pm

      Starred for “operationalize.”

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      dmooneycrayoneater
      7/12/16 12:53pm

      Not really. A person’s tax forms, aid and W-4s are all connected by their SSN, birth date and address.

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    QuadPoleHamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 12:36pm

    And how many of JP Morgan Chase employees get paid minimum wage? My guess is just the tellers and that pool of people are shrinking.

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      Sid and FinancyQuadPole
      7/12/16 12:40pm

      I’m guessing this applies to around 18,000 employees, give or take.

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      Peter ThielQuadPole
      7/12/16 12:46pm

      Yes, well, this is what happens when you get bullied into raising the minimum wage by people who don’t understand basic economics. People get let go.

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    StinkelvossHamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 12:59pm

    I’m no economics expert, but I am a small retail business owner. I have been in business for 5 years now here in NYC and I can say that I have never, and would never have, paid someone less than $15 per hour. And that is just to start at the bottom. We offer more $ for experience. Whenever a company like McDonald’s or WalMart says that they simply cannot afford to pay their employees $15 per hour, they are lying. WalMart’s expenditures on payroll as a percentage are about HALF of mine, so if I can afford it, you’d better believe that they can too.

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      floydmasterStinkelvoss
      7/12/16 1:22pm

      I’m assuming you’re not a publicly traded company? They problem with larger companies is that they could still generate a healthy profit by paying higher wages (and arguably create an overall better product with more satisfied employees), but that doesn’t boost the bottom line to appease shareholders during next quarter’s earnings report as much as cutting back on labor as much as possible.

      Basically their use of “afford” is different than yours or mine. “Afford” to them is what will keep their richest shareholders and board members happy, and that’s quarterly growth, and the path of least resistance to that growth is too often by reducing labor costs by any means possible.

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      Stinkelvossfloydmaster
      7/12/16 2:05pm

      I understand the distinction. However, I think my point is still valid. When they whine about not being able to “afford” it, they are lying. However, when we allow companies to legally pay starvation wages, we cannot fault them for doing so.

      Further, as an individual making business decisions I could very well pay my employees the bare minimum wage, just like my competitors, and probably be able to hire a couple of more hands. However, I choose to pay what I pay because I see value in retaining competent staff. IMHO, hiring and training new employees is one of the WORST things about owning a small business. When I get someone good, I want to keep them.

      One of the dirty little secrets I’ll let you in on when it comes to small business owners is that a lot of us have had so much smoke blown up our asses by the chattering class on cable news that many of us actually believe that we are overtaxed and under appreciated. Many of my peers have overinflated egos as a result of being referred to as “job creators” and “risk takers”.

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    TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)Hamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 12:38pm

    Corporations and their officers will never stop pressing their interests in the public discourse, in media and in government. Workers must do the same. No matter how many victories, no matter how much happy news, the pressure must be maintained on our side, as it will assuredly be maintained on the other side.

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      FrederickDouglassTRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)
      7/12/16 5:15pm

      I love when people criticize the “fight for 15" workers even though their efforts have pressured companies like wal-mart and McDonald’s into raising the minimum. As if keeping your mouth shut and accepting poverty wages is a great way to fight inequality.

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    WhiteMan'sBourbonHamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 1:22pm

    Thank you for this, HamNo. There can never be enough coverage of what a vile piece of shit Jamie Dimon is. He should be in prison for his role in the 2008 crash. While I don’t actually support capital punishment I have fantasies of happily knitting myself and Mme. DeFarge matching sweaters as I watched them drag him to the guillotine.

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      CateWhiteMan'sBourbon
      7/12/16 4:58pm

      I thought his comeuppance was his incurable throat cancer- but, of course, when you have all the money in the world there is a cure available to you.

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      WhiteMan'sBourbonCate
      7/12/16 5:24pm

      Cancer isn’t doled out as punishment for your actions, because this real life, not a cartoon. My wife and father are both cancer survivors. I’m talking about seeing Dimon and the rest of his ilk face actual criminal prosecution for intentionally inflicting poverty and ruination on others in order to reap unimaginable wealth for themselves and their shareholders, instead of being lionized in the business press as a bold corporate warrior.

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    RenoRickHamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 1:27pm

    Starbucks goes out of it’s way to ensure no hourly worker works 40 hours/week. I know they offer benefits to part-time workers, but the managers end up picking up the slack for no extra pay. Fuckheads can spend millions on electing shitheads but cannot dream of paying people extra. And fuck Peter “One person on this site understands basic economics” Theil!

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      NicoRenoRick
      7/12/16 3:05pm

      They may have a harder time fucking the managers that way now that the salaried overtime pay cap has been raised. Thanks Obama!

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    ILoveLucidityHamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 2:57pm

    I refuse to believe that I’m the only one who first thought this article said: Rich men seek praise for showering workers with penises.

    After all, they’re cheaper than money, and found in showers more often than pennies.

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      Tyrant BigglesILoveLucidity
      7/12/16 3:17pm

      Yep. Big as day.

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    sonofkuantiHamilton Nolan
    7/12/16 12:34pm

    One of your better articles. Good writing. Well done Hamilton!

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      yankeesfan9990sonofkuanti
      7/12/16 12:37pm

      Found Hamilton’s mom

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      HoldMeCloserTonyDanzigyankeesfan9990
      7/12/16 12:48pm

      This might be the perfect snark - I can’t tell if its a complement or an insult. Its Schrodinger’s comment. I’m kinda impressed.

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