=== Perhaps the most damaging class at any university anywhere in the country. ===

Amen AND Hallelujah.

The argument that raising the minimum wage raises unemployment has been debunked by history.

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Not using something like, say, government data. Numerous studies show a decline in economic activity on retailers and other minimum wage employers when the minimum wage is increased. Less economic activity means either less employment or higher consumer prices.

Can anyone tell me where the jobs are that were created with the tax breaks? I can’t find them.

If that theater owner got a tax break they should be adding ushers or something shouldn’t they?

We turn a full time job into two or more part time jobs cut the benefits and cheer the job creation like it’s meaningful and is improving our standards of living. What a joke. People need to get a clue.

This particular employment report focuses our attention on a large number of Education and Healthcare jobs created this last month. Many assume we’re talking Doctors, Nurses, etc.. but how do we know that the majority of the jobs are not diaper changers and bed pan attendants working min. wage.

We lump these professions together to obfuscate the reality of the employment situation leaving the report wide open to subjection.

Oh but surely there must of been some of those highly paid teachers in that education category right? I mean the teachers make $70k/year or more.

Nevertheless, Mayor Rahm in Chicago is working on that number of teachers as we speak. Planning school closings and education cut backs. So yeah, part-time temporary workers. Hoo-ray they created X,XXX teachers jobs in Aug.. How many of them will be cut by December?

The unemployment numbers are meaningless to the economy the way the BLS and state report them.

I also wonder what degree globalization makes it difficult for governments, including state governments, to create a system where workers are paid according to their contribution. Economist John Stuart Mill’s idea of freeing trade & taxing the winners to compensate those who lose out has some appeal to me.

Or I could just let my business fail. Too many biz in town have done just that…and then their zero-wage employees put in aps at my place. No one wins if that happens. That’s reality, and that’s something Pat Quinn remains oblivious about.

I’m written some decent length comments here about minimum wage. First, I’ll note that I worked minimum wage jobs for many years, and by the age of twenty-six opened up my own business. Today, many kids have no chance of getting in as early as I did, and they are years and years behind the curve I bent. Say whatever you want, that’s a fact.

Next, anybody who thinks small business owners (or bigger ones, for that matter) all just eat those costs has not mastered any level of Econ, whether 101 or higher, NOR any level of reality, whether 101 or higher. Instead, you get: price increases/inflation, no raises/smaller raises for mid-level employees, slower business growth, worse service (which can start a bad spiral for a small biz), and a worse business environment that makes other locales more attractive.

On that last point, I know someone will try to say no factory or job creator will be affected by a “slight” rise in the minimum wage. I wish that were true, but it all gets factored in. Illinois has plenty of positives that attract jobs, and plenty of negatives that offset that. Why keep piling on the negatives just because some people think the positives win out? Out here in the rural areas, minimum wage hits a lot harder than in the urban and suburban economies many of the legislators and governors (many with ZERO real business experience) hail from. Why are they imposing their Chicago standards on me?

Luckily for you, there was no babysitter involved. There’s another $30 right there.

Seriously, popcorn is $6 and people want to complain about raising the minimum wage.

Was that the discount theater? Last time I went tickets alone were $10 each. Fortunately I smuggled in my own “soda”.

Now THAT’S ECON 101!