Cut in Minimum Wage

CLAPTON

Itismehonest wrote: »

True.

However, how would one over come the problem of high wages in the service sector?
Take, for instance, the rush to outsource telephone call-centres. Here we pay x, India pays y. For y a company can either employ more people or save money. Outcome everything goes to Bangalore, thousands of jobs are lost here & every time I have to call I feel like I'm taking part in an episode of IT Ain't Half Hot Mum

I'm not sure quite what you mean.

If another country can do something better (cheaper) than us then that's the way it is.
We benefit from the cheaper 'product' as long as we in turn produce good and services that some-one else wants.

If over the long term we fail to produce things that people want to buy then we get poorer and our standard of living declines.

So although that may be bad for us, it won't be 'solved' by forcing companies to pay high wages that aren't justified by the value of the products produced.
Nor will it be 'solved' by raising taxes to pay for increased benefits.

However one looks at it, it is those 'evil' companies that are going to 'save' us from poverty if indeed we are going to be saved.

Itismehonest

CLAPTON wrote: »

I'm not sure quite what you mean.

If another country can do something better (cheaper) than us then that's the way it is.
We benefit from the cheaper 'product' as long as we in turn produce good and services that some-one else wants.

If over the long term we fail to produce things that people want to buy then we get poorer and our standard of living declines.

So although that may be bad for us, it won't be 'solved' by forcing companies to pay high wages that aren't justified by the value of the products produced.
Nor will it be 'solved' by raising taxes to pay for increased benefits.

However one looks at it, it is those 'evil' companies that are going to 'save' us from poverty if indeed we are going to be saved.

Sorry I was, obviously, unclear.

I mainly agree with your views. Market forces ultimately dictate.

My point was that, by demanding a NMW, the country has helped to shoot itself in the foot as far as jobs & what we ultimately pay for goods & services is concerned. It has led to fewer jobs (or the creation of less than may have otherwise been created) & more PT working. It has increased costs.

An example. Our care homes are mainly staffed by NMW workers. It is not a job I'd relish doing. Anyone who does it & does it well I applaud but by having a NMW we have increased the costs of looking after ourselves as we grow older whether we can afford it or not.
It has also led to all manner of necessary jobs being branded as bottom rung because they "only pay the minimum". People now turn up their noses at working in those still vital sectors. Posts are often filled by overseas workers for whom our NMW seems like a pools win or, because there is little choice of suitable workers, those that really shouldn't be employed in the job they do but are taken on in pure desperation.
When we can't afford to pay for the goods & services we produce we should be taking a long, hard look at why.

grizzly1911

CLAPTON wrote: »

However one looks at it, it is those 'evil' companies that are going to 'save' us from poverty if indeed we are going to be saved.

Perhaps we should be being realistic and expect not to be saved rather than rearranging the deckchairs. Instead we are being treated as locked in steerage whilst the bankers make ready the lifeboats.

grizzly1911

Itismehonest wrote: »

When we can't afford to pay for the goods & services we produce we should be taking a long, hard look at why.

It would certainly help if we stopped buying so much consumer tat, for personal gratification and concentrated on needs, but that wouldn't support the model for the greater good.

CLAPTON

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Perhaps we should be being realistic and expect not to be saved rather than rearranging the deckchairs. Instead we are being treated as locked in steerage whilst the bankers make ready the lifeboats.

nice imagery but I'm not sure what it means.