Comment 52785

By A Smith (anonymous) | Posted December 07, 2010 at 17:48:57

>> the longer their elder peers take to retire, the longer it takes to free up those jobs.

Anyone can find a job, as long the government eliminates price controls on labour. For example, if there was no minimum wage in Ontario, young people could choose to be unemployed and make zero dollars, or they could choose sell their labour to employers at a market rate. Like everything else we buy, ALL labour has some economic value and will be bought by employers, just so long as doing so makes a business more money than it costs.

The minimum wage law distorts the labour market because it attaches high wages to workers with low skills. Without the ability to make a profit of young people's labour, the only option businesses have is to not hire them at all. The result is higher unemployment amongst the low skilled, reduced output in the economy, reduced standard of living for society, reduced tax revenue and more kids hanging around.

All of these great things are due to the government thinking it can outsmart the laws of supply and demand by passing a law. Perhaps in addition to setting a minimum wage, they should also set a minimum unemployment rate and force businesses to hire people. If they are concerned about helping young people, why haven't they done that?

Permalink | Context

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds