Minimum wage in Washington state did not kill job creation

[Ryan in Maine]

But where will those people get the money?  i only see two ways- they get paid to do useless work, by the elites, or they get welfare from the state, by taxing the elites. Either way, the elites are paying for people they don't need. And the elites really don't need the money either- they need the product, and the power.

 I think we are gonna see a society of oligarchs, squabbling with other oligarchs, supported by a bunch of technocrats and a praetorian guard, and a planetary human die-off to clean up the playground of the elites.  They will not leave us to our turnip patches to labor in peace. 

What value would elites really possess in an automated society?

Seems like they'd have to move from country to country until their status falls off the edge of the planet and elitism can't exist in organic life any longer.

[tokugawa]

Yes, BEWARE OF AUTOMATION!!!! It's going to put us all out of work at the farm! sawmills! textile mills! steel mills! automobile plants! <insert modern fear here>....

 Despite your jibe, Yes, it is. And has. And will accelerate.   Been happening steadily in many areas, take manufacturing for example.  Sure, new industries will come along, maybe we will exsplore space and mine the asteroids- but any new jobs created are going to be well beyond the capacity of a large percentage of the workforce and most of them will be automated anyway. 
  There is an order of magnitude difference between training a buggy whip maker to assemble Model T fords, compared to training a welfare case to do sophisticated modern tech. Or even a graduate of our esteemed liberal Arts colleges. 

 The percentage  of people who have jobs now is at 1984 levels-

 
 
 

[Perd Hapley]

Despite your jibe, Yes, it is. And has. And will accelerate.   Been happening steadily in many areas, take manufacturing for example.  Sure, new industries will come along, maybe we will exsplore space and mine the asteroids- but any new jobs created are going to be well beyond the capacity of a large percentage of the workforce and most of them will be automated anyway. 
  There is an order of magnitude difference between training a buggy whip maker to assemble Model T fords, compared to training a welfare case to do sophisticated modern tech. Or even a graduate of our esteemed liberal Arts colleges. 

 The percentage  of people who have jobs now is at 1984 levels-

I'm sure that's because of automation, and not because of government regulations and other factors.

[Gowen]

Here I am in Nevada, we have the nearly the highest unemployment in the nation.  The minimum wage is $8.25, state law is that it is $1 above federal minimum wage.  If obama has his way, Nevada will be $11.10/hr.  Service industry jobs will be slashed if this happens.

I sit on the fence about minimum wage.  My wife worked in a casino for a short time.  During a employee meeting, the owner said that he shouldn't have to pay them.  Their tips should be enough.  People don't tip like they used to.  So I see where a minimum wage has some uses.  I also see where it kills jobs. Service jobs always take a hit when the minimum wage goes up.

[Scout26]

5%, eh? Here, across river, we charge the Illini 6.25%.

Is that sales tax or income tax?  Because the sales tax rate is 9.75% in Chicago and 8.5% out here in Dupage County.  Income tax is a flat 5% (although the D's are pushing for a progressive tax to make it more "fair".)  Property tax rates vary, but mine run at 7.3580% of 1/3 of the assessed value of the home.  Assessed value has absolutely nothing to do with market value or appraised value.  In fact even though housing prices have plummeted, assessed values remain unchanged.  (or have gone up slightly.)

[Ben]

Property tax rates vary, but mine run at 7.3580% of 1/3 of the assessed value of the home.  Assessed value has absolutely nothing to do with market value or appraised value.  In fact even though housing prices have plummeted, assessed values remain unchanged.  (or have gone up slightly.)

HOLY CRAP! I'd be paying over $10K a year here at that rate. One of the few good things about CA is Prop 13 (which dems have been trying to overturn forever). You basically pay 1% of your purchase price and it can only go up like 1.something% of your tax bill per year. Of course many people I know here who bought 70 year old little two bedroom homes at the market peak for $900K are paying $10K a year anyway.

[Balog]

Given that most of the job creation is probably in the highly paid tech industry, it seems reasonable that a min. wage bump wouldn't affect it. In the states that do not have a growth industry like that, and more folks actually work for the minimum wage I imagine it would have a much more marked effect.

[makattak]

Given that most of the job creation is probably in the highly paid tech industry, it seems reasonable that a min. wage bump wouldn't affect it. In the states that do not have a growth industry like that, and more folks actually work for the minimum wage I imagine it would have a much more marked effect.

Additionally, (and the point I was trying to illustrate by including employment rates rather than growth), when you have a fairly high unemployment rate, there is much greater room for growth. Thus, as with my example of China, the worse states can have phenomenal growth while still having a rather terrible rate of unemployment.

[MechAg94]

We have no income tax in Texas and the sales tax where I am is about 8.25% or so.  I have heard property taxes are higher here.  Mine is 2 to 2.5%. 

[HankB]

So, can we send the Mexicans home?   

Nope - someone will still have to do the jobs that robots won't.