Taylor Cunningham

EH102-01

Annotated Bibliography

8 October 2019

How can raising minimum wage help increase economic mobility?

Annotated Bibliography

Boehner, John. “Should Congress Increase the Federal Minimum Wage and Index It to Inflation? (Cover Story).” Congressional Digest, vol. 92, no. 5, May 2013, p. 19. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=87086284&login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

This article focuses on the fact that congress are trying to determine whether to increase the minimum wage for workers. The fact that if that is done, so many other things will go wrong in doing so. As Boehner said, “when you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it” (19). Basically, he is saying that if the employees are getting paid more then eventually the amount of employees will eventually start to decrease. He also said, “The last time Congress increased the minimum wage, in 2007, the national unemployment rate stood at 4.4 percent and had averaged under 5 percent for the preceding three years” (19). This shows that the unemployment rate has started to increase from the decision that was made in 2007. This article can help me because it has information about what happened once before when congress decided to increase minimum wage.

Harkness, Peter A. “Rising Inequality, Stagnant Mobility.” Governing, vol. 27, no. 6, Mar. 2014, p. 18. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brb&AN=95033692&login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

This article focuses on the fact that when Obama was in office, he decided to want the minimum wage rate to be increased. This was said in a state of the union address to congress and the United States. It is said in Harkness article, “since 1967, the inflation adjusted earnings of middle-class americans have risen a paltry 19 percent, while those in the top 5 percent have enjoyed a 67 percent gain, according to the U.S. Census Bureau” (1). Harkness also puts in his article that, “In all, 46.5 million Americans are living below the poverty level” (1). That number alone is very disturbing to read when it comes to Americans being poor. I can use this in my paper because it will help me indicate how inequality is really effecting the world today.

Irmen, Andreas, and Berthold U. Wigger. “National Minimum Wages, Capital Mobility, and Global Economic Growth.” Economics Letters, vol. 90, no. 2, Feb. 2006, pp. 285–289. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2005.08.011.

This article focuses on the fact that there is a two-country endogenous growth model with capital mobility and national minimum wages. It identifies conditions on the technology and national preferences that determine whether national minimum wages are a stimulus or an obstacle to economic growth. I can use this article in my paper because it helps me look at growth models that can help explain more.

Meer, Jonathan, et al. “The Wrong Tool for the Job.” City Journal, 14 Aug. 2019, https://www.city-journal.org/increasing-minimum-wage.

This article focuses on the rising of minimum wage in different countries. The fact that minimum wage has been risen already in some states is an improvement for some. In the article, Meer says, “Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have raised their minimums since 2014” (Meer1). He also puts in his article that, “Congress is considering the Raise the Wage Act, which would phase in a nationwide increase to $15 an hour over the next few years” (Meer1). With that being risen that high, it raises concerns on what else may be effected by this. I can use this in my article by being able to see the effects that has already been done from the minimum wage being increased once before.

Schrager, Allison. “The Problem in the US Is Economic Mobility, Not the Minimum Wage.” Quartz, Quartz, 1 Aug. 2013, https://qz.com/110887/the-problem-in-the-us-is-economic-mobility-not-the-minimum-wage/

This article focuses on the fact that the problem may not be minimum wage, but it is economic mobility. The fact that there is an estimated amount a household needs to earn just to get by is concerning. Most of the U.S. is under that amount and are in poverty. In Schrager’s article, he asks, “Should people be paid their market value or an income that ensures a dignified lifestyle?” (1). Schrager also says in his article that, “living wage measures are completely arbitrary and that members of the upper middle class, both conservatives and liberals, aren’t well qualified to determine what’s an acceptable lifestyle for other people” (1). To further deliberate, other people cannot determine how a person can live just by making a certain amount of money. I can use this in my paper because it can help me go into further detail about jobs that are going on strikes due to their pay from their jobs.

Zimmerman, Seth. “LABOR MARKET INSTITUTIONS and Economic Mobility.” Urban.org, 2019, www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/31191/1001163-labor-market-institutions-and-economic-mobility.pdf.

This article focuses on the fact that there is little known about the relationship between minimum wage and economic mobility. There are several institutions used in this article that work and try to find solutions for this problem. Zimmerman says, “Though many studies of unions and minimum wage laws include tangential discussions of mobility, direct evidence is difficult to come by” (2). While reading more into this article, he also says, “Studies relating changes in minimum wage and unionization levels to income and wage inequality are much more common” (2). In this periodical Zimmerman is giving using all kinds of information. I can use this in my paper because it gives relationships and shows how it is not so easy to just compare the two, minimum wage and economic mobility.