tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post114498449743679547..comments2023-10-24T04:29:23.693-06:00Comments on Atheist Ethicist: Democratic PoliticsAlonzo Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145270952837651542006-04-17T04:49:00.000-06:002006-04-17T04:49:00.000-06:00OtherguyI am sorry, but your response leaves open ...<B>Otherguy</B><BR/><BR/>I am sorry, but your response leaves open a number of questions.<BR/><BR/>(1) You did not cite any evidence. So, I must ask whether you researched this and understand the research, or is it something that you heard and you decided to accept because you want to believe that it is true? Almost all people who make this claim typically draw this information specifically from the work of <A HREF="http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/5632.html" REL="nofollow">Card and Krueger</A>. I am suspicious of non-economists who say that Card and Krueger must be right when they have not been able to convince the bulk of professional economists. This sounds to me to be particularly symptomatic of somebody accepting something as true because they want to believe it -- that is, of cherry-picking the intelligence to fit the preferred policy.<BR/><BR/>(2) Not all minimum wage workers face the same demand curve. Children from middle-income white households and people seeking part-time work to supplement their regular income face less elasticity than low-income minority workers. So, this is a plan for driving low-income minority workers deeper into poweverty so that middle-income households can make more money.<BR/><BR/>(3) Higher wages bring more of these middle-income white children and people seeking to supplement their income into the job market, replacing low-income minority workers.<BR/><BR/>(4) A higher minimum wage must weigh the fact that those who gain have an increase in pay, while those who lose have lost their livelihood - everything - including the increased opportunity for promotions and pay raises that come from having entered the job market.Alonzo Fyfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145245653525928852006-04-16T21:47:00.000-06:002006-04-16T21:47:00.000-06:00Otherguy --Could you provide a reference to suppor...Otherguy --<BR/><BR/>Could you provide a reference to support this? I'm not arguing with you, I just would like to read something in support of what you claim.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145244205092384492006-04-16T21:23:00.000-06:002006-04-16T21:23:00.000-06:00Labor has been shown to have very inelastic demand...Labor has been shown to have very inelastic demand. The minimum wage would need to be increased very significantly to have even a modest effect on the labor market.<BR/><BR/>Making modest increases to minimum wage to keep it in line with being able to make a living is the right thing to do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145110062907675062006-04-15T08:07:00.000-06:002006-04-15T08:07:00.000-06:00OzYes, it is easy to be generous with another pers...<B>Oz</B><BR/><BR/>Yes, it is easy to be generous with another person's money. But it is also right.<BR/><BR/>The analogy I use is this:<BR/><BR/>Imagine a rich person who has gone to great expense to build a mansion in the middle of the desert. He has trucked in tons of water that he uses for lavish swimming pools and passions. He is an excentric man who only wants to be left alone, so he has no way to communicate with the outside world.<BR/><BR/>A passenger plane crashes in the nearby desert. They come to his gated oasis asking for water. He refuses. He is content to sit on his porch and watch them die.<BR/><BR/>I argue for taking the water -- enough to give to the airplane passengers until help can arrive.<BR/><BR/>By "enough", I mean enough to keep them in good health, which is more than what is needed to keep them alive.<BR/><BR/>Yes, it is easy to be generous with somebody else's water. But it also happens to be the right thing to do.Alonzo Fyfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145074433104058652006-04-14T22:13:00.000-06:002006-04-14T22:13:00.000-06:00The old "tax the rich" slogan, eh? It's always eas...The old "tax the rich" slogan, eh? It's always easy to be generous with other people's money. When I was a kid my mother would send me on errands and I would put the change in the donation cans by the register (without her telling me to). It was easy. Of course, you didn't see me doing that nearly as often when I bought candy for myself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145024899550551962006-04-14T08:28:00.000-06:002006-04-14T08:28:00.000-06:00My ideal candidate would have some familiarity wit...My ideal candidate would have some familiarity with the history of democracy and the founding prinicples of the nation, and would be write his own speeches.Hume's Ghosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551684109760430351noreply@blogger.com