Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Minimum wage should be $35.20/hr.

In 1978-79, average public 4-year in-state college tuition was roughly $688 a year. Assuming that a summer job spans one-fourth of a year, a minimum wage of $2.65/hr generated $1,378, which would cover said tuition amount.
In 2015, the average public 4-year in-state college tuition is roughly $9,139.
If minimum wage increased proportionately with that of college tuition, minimum wage would be $35.20/hr.
An annual salary of $73,218 is much higher than the average entry level salary for a college grad.

Sources consulted:
  • http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d06/tables/dt06_319.asp
  • http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm
  • http://college.usatoday.com/2014/11/13/stock-up-on-ramen-average-cost-of-college-rises-again/
  • http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/11/19/the-college-degrees-with-the-highest-starting-salaries-in-2015/

Monday, March 23, 2015

Thoughts about Raising the Minimum Wage


Anyone comparing the price of higher education from the late 1970s to that of today as an argument to raise the minimum wage is either ignorant or intellectually dishonest. Education costs have increased 7% annually since the early 80s. Said increase is not correlated to the rise of inflation (averaging 3.2%), but rather complex reasons, reasons dealing with higher education being  subsidized by various entities.
Seems that Federal minimum in 1978 was $2.65. It had just increased from $2.30, which is 15.21% increase. The following year, it increased a more modest 9.43% to $2.90, followed by a 6.9% increase in 1980 to $3.10 and by a 8% increase in 1981 to $3.35. 
Collectively, that's a 45.6% increase over a 5-year period.
The next batch of raises to minimum wage occurred in 1990 and 1991 to $3.80 (13.4%) and $4.25 (11.8%), respectfully, for another collective increase of 26.9%. Interestingly, George HW Bush was president during this time, and he was not re-elected in '92 partly due to a recession.
Weird coincidence that recessions occurred following these periods of wage increase. Weirder still that minimum wage was last bumped up a collective 40% (from $5.15 to present $7.25) during a 3-year span starting in July of 2007 and finishing July of 2009, strangely correlating with the Great Recession of '08.
Regardless of my above nonsense with numbers and such, calculating what today's minimum wage should be relative to inflation of an annual increase of 3.2% means the person making $2.65/hr back in 1978 should be making roughly $8.50/hr now. But to be more intectually honest given where I got my inflation number, take the minimum wage from 1982 of $3.35/hr and calulate inflation from then to present figures to $9.47/hr.
So, I guess a raise in minimum wage is in order, but it's not going to mean a summer job will pay for a year of college as predicated in the argument. I did the math, and using said logic, minimum wage should be like $35 an hour.

Sources consulted:

  • http://www.nasfaa.org/advocacy/perspectives/articles/Myths_and_Realities_about_Rising_College_Tuition.aspx
  • http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm
  • http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d06/tables/dt06_319.asp
  • http://www.forumoecon.com/forumoecon/pearchives/political/poleconarticle2print.pdf
  • http://www.calculatorpro.com/calculator/salary-calculator/
Articles on raising minimum wage to $15/hr:

  • http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/19/la-minimum-wage-rise-vote

Friday, March 20, 2015

people I'd like to meet

While driving to see my dad in the hospital last July, I listened to Lorde's Pure Heroine on the Passat's CD player. Not sure why J got it out from her library, but we both liked what we had heard of hers on the radio.
I'm not a big fan of music. I don't hate music, I just don't think about it much. Up until last Thanksgiving, I spent my afternoons and car drives listening to talk radio. I think there's a limit on how much preaching to the choir I can tolerate, and I reached it when nothing said was new. Being comfortable with the status quo is fine if it's not boring. Nonetheless, I can't drive in silence for three hours, hence roadtrip with Lorde.

So the opening line to Tennis Court has a certain meaning to me.
The problem with being bored with how people talk is that I don't care to meet new people. Regardless, people don't care to talk to me. I limit my interaction on Facebook to family and friends. I find that they seem to not update their status to things of my interest much. I must be boring, for my updates sans pics of my family go without comment or the like. I don't know many people on Twitter, but those that I do, I am moreso inclined to interact.
Subtweeting aside, most tweets can be a conversation starter if the character limit is used. Tweets are short and sweet, and there's no being bogged down with boredom when you follow a collection of varying viewpoints on nights that aren't flooded with inane red carpet nonsense from the various award shows for the uber 1% or sporting events like March Madness that are silly to me.
Not everyone does Twitter. I'm annoyed that Camille Paglia doesn't seem to utilize Twitter. Maybe she does now, but last I checked, she was not to be found. I guess that means she's one of the few people I'd have to meet in person to interact. I'm not in the mood to watch her speak, but I find her views interesting and mostly well thought out. I don't have to agree with her, but her arguments are neither simply cliche nor closed ended talking points. She's not boring.

Monday, March 16, 2015

oHIGHo

Pot is on the ballot for Ohio. I've mixed views on the subject. Legalizing recreational drugs is fine in theoretical terms of tax revenue and less funds going towards jailing potheads and pot traffickers, but I drive home from work around 2:30am. Bad enough I have to worry about drunk drivers, but stoned drivers heading for Taco Bell seems likely to increase.
Before my dad passed away, he was on tons of painkillers for his back. He qualified for a morphine pump, but he passed on the procedure since he wouldn't be able to regulate his pain killer like he could popping pills. Medical marijuana is not legal in Ohio, but I told him that he should see if the stuff helped him... because he was so ill what would authorities do to him.