Re:A New Real-Estate War in Silicon Valley
by WalterBright on Saturday October 22, 2016 @07:18PM
(#12771031)
Such as with the $15 minimum wage - it's the marginal businesses that will shut down, and the people with marginal job skills who will be shut out of the job market.
In a toy economy that's definitely true, but the empirical results are mixed in the real world, where there are lots of complicated dynamics.
Re:A New Real-Estate War in Silicon Valley
by WalterBright on Sunday October 23, 2016 @03:43PM
(#12775083)
Any business that buys inventory at $15 and sells it for $10 is going to go out of business. What complicated dynamic would change that?
(Yes, I know that often businesses miscalculate the value of an employee, and it may have other sources of profit that cover the losses, etc., but it doesn't change the reality that the profit motive will squeeze such things out.)
Re:A New Real-Estate War in Silicon Valley
by ArkyBeagle on Monday October 24, 2016 @05:31AM
(#12777568)
People are not inventory.
Re:A New Real-Estate War in Silicon Valley
by JoeAltmaier on Sunday October 23, 2016 @09:57AM
(#12773569)
Thanks for saying that! Its common for folks to play what I call 'dot to dot' where they draw a thin line from one action to some chain of results. They say "I proved its a bad idea!" Its like sketching in 3 or four lines in a dot-to-dot puzzle and saying "See! Its a dog!" when it might be the Sistine chapel.
Thinks are complicated. All the dot-to-dot statements are somewhat true, but they're all going on at the same time. Higher minimum wage means more spendable cash, which means more small businesses see an uptick in sales, so more profit. See! I can do it too.
Re:A New Real-Estate War in Silicon Valley
by paulddraper on Sunday October 23, 2016 @03:10PM
(#12774916)
Uh huh. There are multiple lines to be drawn.
Deadweight losses are the inevitable leftovers of decreased efficiency after they have been drawn.
This is not a 100% rule, just 5 or 6 nines.