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In Cambridge, a push on for $15 minimum wage

City Councilor Nadeem Mazen is sponsoring a petition to set a $15 minimum wage in Cambridge.

This minimum wage is fair and reflective of the cost of living within Cambridge. It will would provide enough income for a full-time worker to meet all of the typical expenses of living in this city of ours.

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low wage workers are currently living in the Peoples Republic.

And it's not like it would ever effect small businesses hiring practices.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/03/16/we-are-seeing-the-eff...

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If the corporation with the multi-billion dollar valuation that my daughter works for has to pay her $15/hour. That would sure mean the end of Western Civilization as we know it.

Small businesses like the Gap, Verizon, Macy's would surely go out of business if this outrage comes to pass.

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Because the bulk of impacted businesses are multinationals? No, they are the small/medium ones, who will buckle and likely either lower quality, hire less, or close up shop in response. Just because a wage is dictated, doesn't mean the economics of a business is ready to change rapidly in response (and in food in particular, margins are already in the < 5% range)

The focus on minimum wage is a folly, the majority of people working for them don't work for them very long or are generally high school students. This whole hoopla over things like "can't pay for a 1 bedroom apartment on min wage in Boston" are comical - most people who make more still can't afford that and this certainly won't help solve it.

In fact, for the worst off it likely means losing/not getting a job (far worse than a lower wage), or having to pay more for everything you buy (silently the true regressive harm). None of this is going to help income inequality, or fix the problem of people not being able to afford living in these cities.

There will be a segment that benefits, but it will be limited, and possibly to the larger detriment of others already on the ropes.

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Isn't it funny how we're always "think of the children small businesses" whenever there's a new government regulation or increase in the minimum wage, but when those same small businesses are going out of business because they can't compete against WalMart or the like it's just "basic economics".

Well, screw small businesses*. The sooner we do away with them, the easier it will be to stop large multinationals from taking advantage of their supposed vulnerability.

*Not really.

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But wrong in nearly every detail: http://www.dol.gov/minwage/mythbuster.htm

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??

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Please cite relevant sources on the experience of these communities when making your point.

Otherwise, be honest that your opinions are untainted by factual data or living wage track records. Theory is nice, reality is better.

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Good story about the affects raising the minimum wage has on small businesses. The irony here is too good: comic book store owner votes to raise minimum wage but then spits his coffee out when the economics dont work. When he realizes his business cannot withstand the increase in payroll. If the federal minimum wage is raised to $15 hour you will soon see touchscreens and computers replacing the cashiers....

---Hibbs says that the $15-an-hour minimum wage will require a staggering $80,000 in extra revenue annually. “I was appalled!” he says. “My jaw dropped. Eighty-thousand a year! I didn’t know that. I thought we were talking a small amount of money, something I could absorb.”---

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417763/meet-progressive-comic-book...

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Because you are, as things currently stand. The difference between what McDonald's, DD, et al pay and what it takes for their workers to actually live is made up for by us taxpayers. In the form of social services like Section 8 housing, Mass Health, WIC, etc. No one is living around here on $9/hour without some form of public assistance.

So McDonald's gets away with paying a substandard starvation wage, and we pay the difference.

Do you want fries with that?

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These jobs aren't meant to support families. They are ideal for students, retirees and those living at home.

People need to make themselves valuable, and it starts in school at a young age.

Who makes a career out of flipping burgers at McDonalds? Who ever imagined you could support a family, or even yourself on McDonalds pay? It's nothing new, those jobs are great for extra money, they always have been. It's a new thing that they're supposed to be careers. When did this happen?

In MA our economy has recovered nicely, what's missing?

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McDonald's once upon a time claimed that people could have a career working there. In fact, they still do:

http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/careers.html

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If you work for their corporate division. Flipping burgers, on the other hand, was never meant to be a career.

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Yes, but the reality is different. How do you support a family on $15, let alone $9?

None of this should be a surprise to anyone yet it it, so it seems.

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People need to make themselves valuable, and it starts in school at a young age.

Really? I'm wondering if you skipped the part of school called "history", and the boring old part about the Industrial Revolution. The pace has simply accelerated since: the shiny-shinies call it "innovation" and "disruption", but by any name it means that you can't plan for what will "make yourself valuable" when you're "in school at a young age". By the time you're out of school, everything you planned for is gone. This isn't the 1950s.

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If Cambridge raises their minimum wage to $15 an hour, thus making an employee ineligible for child care subsidies, housing vouchers, etc, I can guarantee that they will either demand less hours or will work for $9 an hour in a neighboring town. You'll also see the underground economy swell, as both employers and employees became more incentivized to work "under the table". $15 an hour might sound like a feel-good rallying cry but many minimum wage employees will sing a different tune when they find out that they are no longer getting an EIC refund.

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So maybe you can help me: If somebody's wages jump from $9 to $15 an hour (and let's pretend that happens all at once, rather than being phased in over several years as in Seattle) and somebody manages to work 40 hours a week, how much extra income is that in a year? And would that be more or less than an EIC refund?

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But this would be the end of teenage employment in the Republic. And the company I work for I'm sure would switch to unpaid interns rather than paid interns.

The average worker earning minimum wage earns it for 6 months before receiving an increase. An awful lot of damage will be done to entry level employment for low skilled workers to see this Utopian reality. It's fine, though, as it will just create another societal problem that liberals can exploit to further their power over the productive class. A win/win for them!

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My son is a shift leader and makes $11 - and he has added responsibilties.

He's nominally a teen, for the next few months, but most employers in Cambridge and environs won't hire younger teens already! He recommended his brother to the boss, but boss won't hire high school kids.

Why? Because there are plenty of college kids. So we have a young adult in year 3 of college making $11 for a job with responsibility.

That "teen employment" ship has sailed, dear.

Also, consider this: I made $6 an hour for entry level work in 1985 and $9 an hour for a coop job in 1986. Considering that living expenses are now 4 times as much, he should be making far more.

Even $3.35 an hour (minimum in 1980) would be $13.40 an hour, scaled for expenses.

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I made $6 an hour in 1999 at the age of 15 running the board at a radio station. That employment almost absolutely does not exist in 2015, and if it does, I don't know anybody who would hire a 15 year old to do that job. Not everybody has Ben Hamilton's gumption, I guess.

I wouldn't hire a HS kid either. Too much red tape, I'll get a legal adult to do the job. There's 8 billion people. $15 an hour for an American? 3/4 of the planet will undercut that without batting an eye. Does the expression "Made in China" mean anything to anybody? Of course it doesn't, because Americans don't care where their cheap crap comes from, and the Chinese don't care that their buyers are a bunch of fat capitalist Americans.

We're outbreeding the world's currency and resources. Why am I the only person I know who talks about this? $15 an hour is a Band-Aid. Paying men to get vasectomies and freeze their sperm, thus setting a barrier to breeding, is an intelligent and sensible solution to a real problem of too many people and too few jobs left to do once computers and non-Americans who tolerate slum living have taken many of the tasks.

Wal-Mart is not "evil," it's a store run by wealthy heirs and stockholders who have the same concerns as any other human: Protect their wealth. I'm not going to bash any human for trying to acquire wealth, nor am I going to bash any human for responding to their urges to have sex and breed. The intersection of these two things is a government bribe to engage in birth control.

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Nobody really wants to talk about getting sterilized as the most green thing people can do to combat global warming. Its the elephant in the room. Who is going to tell India, Brazil, China, Mexico etc. that they need to use birth control or a little self control?

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Right on time with an irrelevant comment that demonstrates nothing except his fascination with other people's wabbly bits, it's MarKKK.

(not the 9:55 actually...3:09 am? Don't got a job to go to in the morning? That explains a lot)

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if having trouble. Clueless ones like yours give me a laugh when you don't understand the connection between population and CO2 as a function of population size from food production to heating/cooking, to consumer goods.

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...well, two things actually.

1. What connection your remark has to do with the current thread (answer: there is none, it's irrelevant, just MarKKK shoving his oar in as usual)

2. Which of Newton's laws is currently under suspension to keep your ears from slamming together.

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Based on CPI, $3.35 in 1980 equals $9.70 today, so you are only off by about 40%. And, yes, there are teens in college so they count too.

Wages must be based on productivity, not the cost of living. If wage inflation exceeds productivity gains there will be less labor. You cannot artificially charge higher prices for a certain thing and not expect negative adjustments elsewhere.

I assume an "enlightened" person like you are an environmentalist. Isn't that the argument used about the delicate balance of the natural world? Why would you think that it will throw the earth out of balance if the delta smelt in California dies off but pricing labor higher than it's resulting production will not have negative consequences?

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When people talk about "teens" having jobs, they are not talking about college students, they're talking about high school age teens living at home. And please stop trying to bolster your fraudulent argument with crocodile tears over the environment. You'd set it all on fire if it would line your pocket.

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You mentioned three very large companies that can absorb and adjust to things like this. What about ACTUAL small businesses that cant?

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And find me three Mom-and-Pop outfits in the entire building. The Tasty left Harvard Square along with Damon and Affleck--the place is a retail Disneyland. I ain't crying any tears for Chipotle or Au Bon Pain having to pay their workers a living wage so I don't have to subsidize them through my taxes.

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Through higher prices. Either that, or their profits drop, their stock tanks along with broader market (see WMT today,) and you can kiss your 401k adios...

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Harvard, MIT, and the City of Cambridge.

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Harvard has the second largest endowment of any non-profit in the world behind only the Vatican, MIT isn't exactly struggling, and thanks to the high property values the city of Cambridge can certainly also afford to pay this wage.

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The question isn't who the largest employers are.

It's who are the largest employers of minimum wage staff. I'd imagine percentage of staff would be more pertinent too than raw count since a store with 9/10 employees at minimum wage might go under, but a store with 100/200 staff members at minimum wage would probably be able to cope.

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Small businesses like the Gap, Verizon, Macy's would surely go out of business if this outrage comes to pass.

With tens of thousands of loyal customers destroying their Macy's cards after the chain sided with the pro-illegal alien crowd and against Donald Trump, I don't think Macy's will have to worry about the minimum wage or much else. The thousands of Macy's layoffs this year are just the beginning.

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n/t

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how about proven economic.

You should pick up a HS Econ book and look at things like;

Price Floors and Celings.
Keynesian Cross
Price elaticity
Demand for labor vs. labor supply (trained)

Spending power and disposable income of those making 15+ currently whose wages will ultimately adjust to the market.

= Decrease consumption and purchase power.

You're trying to argue a political talking point, while demanding statistics for something being implement now. Ya stats don't exist, but economic theory does.

https://jonmalesic.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/the-minimum-wage-and-elastic...

Basically simply put, in order to sustain the current employment level with a drastic increase in wages companies will need to increase prices of goods across the board, decreasing the purchasing power of said individuals receiving such increase in wage. Thus reducing there purchasing power and disposable income. This will result in market corrections and leave those receiving higher wages in the same spot.

Equilibrium!

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Trying that again with a bit of grammar check before posting.

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Your argument assumes that Harvard is the only employer in Cambridge. You also talk about national chains which everyone complains are Already squeezing out local businesses. So if this passes you will still have the Gap, but not locally owned businesses, congratulations. I'm afraid you need to think these things through.

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Leaving aside that there are certainly parts of Cambridge where low wage workers live, this is more about the ones who work there and live elsewhere.

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The projects and section 8 housing. There isn't one affordable nook in that bullshit city anymore. I work in Cambridge (unfortunately) and live in Lowell, because that's the closest town with reasonable rents.

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"This minimum wage is fair "
To who? Not to the person who owns a business with three people making min. wage and four people making $ 12.50 and two making $ 15.00 an hour.
Where does Councilor Nadeem Mazen think the money is going to come from to give all those people raises? Who would be the first ones to be let go in this scenario?

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1980: $3.35 minimum wage
College costs were $10K a year
Rent was $250 a month

2015: $7.25 minimum wage
Rent is $1000 for that same bedroom in a shared apartment
College costs are $50K a year

See something wrong here?

Quadrupling and quintupling of costs (not even getting into people who aren't in the educational system), barely a doubling of wages.

$15 is actually pretty close to what $3.35 was worth 35 years ago.

Somehow, businesses survived that wage horror just fine back then!

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U.S. population in 1980: 226.5 million

U.S. population in 2015: 318.9 million

That's a 40% increase in 35 years. That went up too. And they all eat and require shelter.

Why should the minimum wage increase at all, then? I know a lot of that 318.9 million is retired, but that work force got bigger, and all the factories are outside of the U.S. now. The human race is a race to the bottom.

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I don't see you volunteering to give up your vittles.

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Yes, I do. Minimum wage in MA in 2015 is $9/hr, not $7.25.

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3.35 an hour in 1980 is $9.70 today according to the BLS (and that's probably the range of where the minimum wage should be nationally - Mass may need to bump it up a little)

College is a completely different animal - but very few are paying that $50k a year - and nobody making $10 an hour that has kids is paying that kind of money. There was some very interesting work done by a couple of economists that indicated that while college sticker prices have skyrocketed, the actual average amount paid has actually only slightly exceeded inflation.

As for rent - yes that is much higher - but there are also a lot of things working there - as someone has pointed out - limited supply and increased demand. Population is up about 65% in the last 50 years - and last time I checked NY, Boston, Philly, DC and most other cities weren't doing a lot of landfill projects. Humans - especially urban humans have to get used to living in smaller spaces as long as we keep reproducing faster than we are dying.

And while that extra $5 an hour may seem like very little - how much does it cost to develop an app if you are McDonalds, or Panera or Starbucks and you just order and pay online with a Menu app? Be careful what you wish for. One minute you are making $9 an hour - the next $15 an hour and the next you are standing on the side of the street with a sign in your hand.

Don't believe me - ask a cabbie that paid $500k for a medallion.

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The answer is to lower the damn college tuition. That's gone out of control more than anything else.

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my feeling is that if you own a business, you, as the business owner, should be bringing in enough dough to pay your workers a livable wage. If your business is not tenable enough to do that, than you should rethink how you do business or not be in business.

Which for a stereotypical "small business owner" might mean less of a salary for him or her (which is probably one of the real reasons why some folks hate the idea of raising the minimum wage.)

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The business owner will pay the wages she is required to and more to those that are qualified, but do you think the minimum wage workers in the scenario above are going to hang on to their jobs? I think it's highly unlikely.
Less hours and maybe one or two less workers is probably the most likely outcome of having an increase of that magnitude forced upon you.

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an increase of that magnitude

Those who are against this increase are focusing exclusively on what the proposed minimum wage will be compared to what it is now. That's part of the picture, but have you considered looking instead at:

  1. The proposed minimum wave vs. what workers in Cambridge are actually making now (as opposed to the current minimum wage), and
  2. The percentage change in operating costs rather than wages (which, at the end of the day, is what a business owner really cares about)

People have been tossing around "65% increase", which sounds like a staggering amount. But it does not translate to a 65% increase in operating costs, or even to a 65% increase in labor costs unless every single person working for the business is making minimum wage.

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"unless every single person working for the business is making minimum wage."

If an employer is paying a few people 9 dollars an hour and a few 12 dollars an hour and a few more 15 dollars an hour and then is required to increase the 9 dollar an hour employees to 15 dollars an hour the other employees making less than 15 dollars an hour currently are going to want more. And the ones making 15 dollars an hour are going to want more. No company I have ever worked for paid everyone the same and they will figure out how to make things work by having fewer employees or less hours or a combination of both.
That's my opinion anyway.

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What's your imaginary store owner sell? Tourist trinkets?

Well, all those other people who are now making a higher minimum wage in Seattle might have enough pocket change finally to be able to afford a trip to Harvard Square to buy trinkets from your store whereas they didn't before. So, now your sales volume is up because more people have disposable income that didn't before. Costs don't have to change for you to pay your own workers more from the new found sales volume.

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It doesn't matter what they are selling , an across the board pay increase for all employees without the guarantee of an increase in sales is going to hurt.
A theory of what may happen isn't going to put more money in the business owners pocket to meet payroll. I suppose she could forgo her own salary to cover increased costs, but how likely is that?

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Yes, and an across the board pay increase while also getting sued and then the whole place burns down including your fire insurance policy (and it was the only copy in the world) is going to REALLY hurt.

And if you don't like the "theory" of an increase in sales, don't tell me. Here's the list of people you need to write to:

In recent years there have been important developments in the academic literature on the effect of increases in the minimum wage on employment, with the weight of evidence now showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Research suggests that a minimum-wage increase could have a small stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth, and providing some help on the jobs front.

Henry Aaron, Brookings Institution
Katharine Abraham, University of Maryland
Daron Acemoglu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Frank Ackerman, Synapse Energy Economics
Earl Adams, Allegheny College (retired)
Jacqueline Agesa, Marshall University
Tanweer Akram, ING Investment Management
Randy Albelda, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Carolyn Aldana, California State University, San Bernardino
Mona Ali, State University of New York, New Paltz
Sylvia Allegretto, University of California, Berkeley
Elizabeth Ananat, Duke University
Bernard E. Anderson, University of Pennsylvania
Marcellus Andrews, Bucknell University
August Ankum, QSI Consulting
Eileen Appelbaum, Center for Economic and Policy Research and University of Leicester
Kenneth Arrow, Stanford University*+
Michael Ash, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Bevin Ashenmiller, Occidental College
Glen Atkinson, University of Nevada, Reno
David Autor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M. V. Lee Badgett, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Ron Baiman, Benedictine University
Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Erdogan Bakir, Bucknell University
Stephen Baldwin, Retired
Erol Balkan, Hamilton College
Jennifer Ball, Washburn University
Gustavo Barboza, Clarion University of Pennsylvania
David Barkin, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico City
William Barnes, University of Portland
Charles Barone, Dickinson College
Alan Barreca, Tulane University
Chris Barrett, Cornell University
Robin Bartlett, Denison University
Donald Basch, Simmons College
Laurie Bassi, McBassi & Company
Francis Bator, Harvard University
William Baumol, New York University+
Amanda Bayer, Swarthmore College
Dale Belman, Michigan State University
Lourdes Beneria, Cornell University
Peter Berg, Michigan State University
Gunseli Berik, University of Utah
Eli Berman, University of California, San Diego
Alexandra Bernasek, Colorado State University
Jared Bernstein, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Nancy Bertaux, Xavier University
Charles Betsey, Howard University
David Betson, University of Notre Dame
Haimanti Bhattacharya, University of Utah
Carole Biewener, Simmons College
Cihan Bilginsoy, University of Utah
Cyrus Bina, University of Minnesota
John Bishop, Cornell University
Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute
Sandra Black, University of Texas, Austin
David Blanchflower, Dartmouth College
Gail Blattenberger, University of Utah
Robert Blecker, American University
Alan Blinder, Princeton University
Barry Bluestone, Northeastern University
Lawrence Blume, Cornell University
Peter Bohmer, Evergreen State College
Barry Bosworth, Brookings Institution
Howard Botwinick, State University of New York, Cortland
Heather Boushey, Washington Center for Equitable Growth
Roger Bove, West Chester University (retired)
Samuel Bowles, Santa Fe Institute
Elissa Braunstein, Colorado State University
David Breneman, University of Virginia
Marc Breslow, Massachusetts Climate Action Network
Dominic Brewer, University of Southern California
Nancy Brooks, Cornell University
David Brookshire, University of New Mexico
Christopher Brown, Arkansas State University
Clair Brown, University of California, Berkeley
Thomas Bruggink, Lafayette College
Michael Brün, Illinois State University
Luis Brunstein, Hiram College
Robert Buchele, Smith College
Nina Banks, Bucknell University
John Burkett, University of Rhode Island
Joyce Burnette, Wabash College
Gary Burtless, Brookings Institution
Paul D. Bush, California State University, Fresno (emeritus)
Al Campbell, University of Utah (emeritus)
Jim Campen, University of Massachusetts, Boston (emeritus)
Paul Cantor, Norwalk Community College
Marie-Louise Caravatti , American Federation of Teachers
Jeffrey Carpenter, Middlebury College
Michael Carter, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Dell Champlin, Eastern Illinois University (retired)
Richard Chapman, Westminster College
John Dennis Chasse, State University of New York, Brockport
Howard Chernick, Hunter College, City University of New York
Robert Chernomas, University of Manitoba
Victor Chernozhukov, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Robert Cherry, Brooklyn College
Lawrence Chimerine, Radnor Consulting Services
Menzie Chinn, University of Wisconsin
Charles Chittle, Bowling Green State University
Mussaddeq Chowdhury, University of Redlands
Paul Christensen, Hofstra University
Kimberly Christensen, Sarah Lawrence College
Gary Clayton, Northern Kentucky University
Rachel Cleetus, Union of Concerned Scientists
Nathaniel Cline, University of Redlands
Richard Coe, New College of Florida
Jennifer Cohen, Whitman College
Steve Cohn, Knox College
William Comanir, University of California, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara
Sean Corcoran, New York University
Paul Courant, University of Michigan
Carolyn Craven, Middlebury College
John Crespi, Kansas State University
James Crotty, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
David Cutler, Harvard University
Sheldon Danziger, Russell Sage Foundation
Susan Davis, Buffalo State College
Charles Davis, Indiana University
Maarten de Kadt, Not affiliated
Charles de Seve, American Economics Group, Inc.
Angus Deaton, Princeton University+
Carmen Diana Deere, University of Florida
Gregory DeFreitas, Hofstra University
Will Delavan, Lebanon Valley College
Brad DeLong, University of California, Berkeley
Shanta Devarajan, World Bank
Sean D’Evelyn, Loyola Marymount University
James Devine, Loyola Marymount University
Geert Dhondt, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
Peter Diamond, Massachusetts Institute of Technology*+
Ranjit Dighe, State University of New York, Oswego
John DiNardo, University of Michigan
Avinash Dixit, Princeton University+
Arthur Domike, American University
Dutkowsky Donald, Syracuse University
Peter Dorman, Evergreen State College
Asif Dowla, St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Matthew Drennan, University of California, Los Angeles
Laura Dresser, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Richard Du Boff, Bryn Mawr College (retired)
Arindrajit Dube, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Amitava Dutt, University of Notre Dame
Gary Dymski, University of Leeds and University of California, Riverside
Susan Dynarski , University of Michigan
James Eaton, Bridgewater College (emeritus)
Peter Eaton, University of Missouri, Kansas City
John Edgren, Eastern Michigan University
Ronald Ehrenberg, Cornell University
Rick Eichhorn, Coe College
Green Ekadi, Meharry Medical College
Justin Elardo, Portland Community College
Elizabeth Elmore, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Gerald Epstein, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Azim Essaji, Wilfrid Laurier University
Colleen Fahy, Assumption College
David Fairris, University of California, Riverside
Henry Farber, Princeton University
Sasan Fayazmanesh, California State University, Fresno
Rafat Fazeli, University of Redlands
Steven Fazzari, Washington University in St. Louis
Rashi Fein, Harvard University
Robert Feinberg, American University
Susan Feiner, University of Southern Maine
John Felton, University of Nebraska (emeritus)
William Ferguson, Grinnell College
Rudy Fichtenbaum, Wright State University
Alexander Field, Santa Clara University
Deborah M. Figart, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Kade Finnoff, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Peter Fisher, University of Iowa (emeritus)
John Fitzgerald, Bowdoin College
Sean Flaherty, Franklin and Marshall College
Kenneth Flamm, University of Texas, Austin
Maria Floro, American University
Frederick Floss, Buffalo State College
Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Gary Francis, California State University, Chico
Douglas Frank, Allegheny College
Robert Frank, Cornell University
Richard Freeman, Harvard University
Gerald Friedman, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Alan Frishman, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
James Galbraith, University of Texas, Austin
David Gallo, California State University, Chico
John Gallup, Portland State University
Emma Garcia, Economic Policy Institute
Irwin Garfinkel, Columbia University
Christophre Georges, Hamilton College
Teresa Ghilarducci, The New School for Social Research
Reza Ghorashi, Stockton College
Lisa Giddings, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
Richard Gilbert, University of California, Berkeley
Alan Gin, University of San Diego
Norman Glickman, Rutgers University
David Gold, The New School
John Golden, Allegheny College
Lonnie Golden, Pennsylvania State University, Abington
Claudia Goldin, Harvard University+
Steven Goldman, University of California, Berkeley
Don Goldstein, Allegheny College
Fidel Gonzalez, Sam Houston State University
Jesus Gonzalo, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Neva Goodwin, Tufts University
Robert Gordon, Northwestern University
Elise Gould, Economic Policy Institute
Harvey Gram, Queens College, City University of New York
Ulla Grapard, Colgate University
Daphne Greenwood, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Ricardo Grinspun, York University, Toronto
Heather Grob, Saint Martin’s University
W. Norton Grubb, University of California, Berkeley
Christopher Gunn, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Robert Guttmann, Hofstra University
Darrick Hamilton, The New School
Joseph Harris, State University of New York, College at Old Westbury (emeritus)
Douglas Harris, Tulane University
Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women’s Policy Research and George Washington University
Mitchell Harwitz, University at Buffalo
Baban Hasnat, State University of New York, Brockport
Robert Haveman, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Carol Heim, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
John Henry, University of Missouri, Kansas City
Felix Hernandez, Queens College, City University of New York
Conrad Herold, Hofstra University
Adam Hersh, Center for American Progress
Stephen Herzenberg, Keystone Research Center
Donald Hester, University of Wisconsin, Madison
David Hewitt, Whittier College
Michael Hillard, University of Southern Maine
Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, University of California, Los Angeles
P. Sai-wing Ho, University of Denver
Geoffrey Hodgson, University of Hertfordshire
Emily Hoffman, Western Michigan University
Michelle Holder, Community Service Society of New York
Stephen Holland, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Harry Holzer, Georgetown University
Christina Houseworth, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
David Howell, The New School
Candace Howes, Connecticut College
David Huffman, Bridgewater College
Thomas Hungerford, Economic Policy Institute
E. K. Hunt, University of Utah
Michael Hutchison, University of California, Santa Cruz
Saul Hymans, University of Michigan
Frederick Inaba, Washington State University
Dorene Isenberg, University of Redlands
Sarah Jacobson, Williams College
Sanford Jacoby, University of California, Los Angeles
David Jaeger, City University of New York Graduate Center
Kenneth Jameson, University of Utah
Russell Janis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Marc Jarsulic, Center for American Progress
Elizabeth Jensen, Hamilton College
Tae-Hee Jo, State University of New York, Buffalo State
Jerome Joffe, St. John’s University (retired)
William Johnson, Arizona State University
Jon Jonakin, Tennessee Technological University (emeritus)
Barbara Jones, Alabama A&M University
Derek Jones, Hamilton College
Helene Jorgensen, Economic Consultant
Allison Kaminaga, Stonehill College
J. K. Kapler, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Peter Karl Kresl, Bucknell University
Harry Katz, Cornell University
Lawrence Katz, Harvard University
Roger Kaufman, Smith College
David Kaun, University of California, Santa Cruz
Mark Kazarosian, Stonehill College and Boston College
Melissa Kearney, University of Maryland
Daphne Kenyon, D. A. Kenyon & Associates
Valerie Kepner, King’s College
Haider Khan, University of Denver
Jaewhan Kim, University of Utah
Mary King, Portland State University
Christopher King, University of Texas, Austin
Marieka Klawitter, University of Washington
Lori Kletzer, Colby College
Janet Knoedler, Bucknell University
Thomas Kochan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Timothy Koechlin, Vassar College
Andrew Kohen, James Madison University
Ebru Kongar, Dickinson College
David Kotz, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dan Kovenock, Chapman University
Philip Kozel, Rollins College
Brent Kramer, City University of New York
Kate Krause, University of New Mexico
Alan Krupnick, Resources for the Future
Adriana Kugler, Georgetown University
Edith Kuiper, State University of New York, New Paltz
Dr. R. Shashi Kumar Kumar, Bangalore University
Fidan Ana Kurtulus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Sumner La Croix, University of Hawaii
David Laibman, Brooklyn College, City University of New York (emeritus)
Melaku Lakew, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Andrew Larkin, St. Cloud State University (emeritus)
Gary Latanich, Arkansas State University
William Lazonick, University of Massachusetts
Ronald Lee, University of California, Berkeley
Frederic Lee, University of Missouri, Kansas City
Thomas Legg, University of Minnesota
Brandon Lehr, Occidental College
Paul Leigh, University of California, Davis
Charles Levenstein, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Margaret Levenstein, University of Michigan
Henry Levin, Columbia University
Mark Levinson, SEIU
Oren Levin-Waldman, Metropolitan College of New York
Frank Levy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Arthur Lewbel, Boston College
David Lindauer, Wellesley College
Susan Linz, Michigan State University
Victor Lippit, University of California, Riverside
David Lipsky, Cornell University
Paul Lockard, Black Hawk College and Economic History Association
Mark Long, University of Washington
Mary Lopez, Occidental College
Daniel Luria, Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center
Nora Lustig, Tulane University
Devon Lynch, University of Masschusetts, Dartmouth
Robert Lynch, Washington College
Lisa Lynch, Brandeis University
Frank Lysy, World Bank (retired)
Arthur MacEwan, University of Massachusetts, Boston
John MacLennan, American Society for Public Administration
Allan MacNeill, Webster University
Craig MacPhee, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Diane Macunovich, University of Redlands
Mark Maier, Glendale Community College
Bernard Malamud, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Julianne Malveaux, Bennett College (former president)
Don Mar, San Francisco State University
Ann Markusen, University of Minnesota
Lawrence Marsh, University of Notre Dame
Ray Marshall, University of Texas, Austin
John Martinez, Midwestern State University
Alexandre Mas, Princeton University
Eric Maskin, Harvard University*
Patrick L. Mason, Florida State University
Andrew Mason, University of Hawaii, Manoa
Thomas Masterson, Bard College
Gabriel Mathy, American University
Julie Matthaei, Wellesley College
Peter Hans Matthews, Middlebury College
Ann Mari May, University of Nebraska
Anne Mayhew, University of Tennessee
Roberto Mazzoleni, Hofstra University
Elaine McCrate, University of Vermont
Susan McElroy, University of Texas, Dallas
Richard McGahey, The New School
Richard McGregory, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater
Richard McIntyre, University of Rhode Island
Jo Beth Mertens, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Peter Meyer, The E.P. Systems Group, Inc.
Douglas Meyer, UAW
Peter Meyer, University of the Pacific
William Milberg, The New School
Ashley Miller, Mount Holyoke College
John Miller, Wheaton College
Ronald Mincy, Columbia University
Jerry Miner, Syracuse University
Lawrence Mishel, Economic Policy Institute
John Mondejar, U.S. Federal Government
Edward Montgomery, Georgetown University
Mark Montgomery, Stony Brook University
Robert Moore, Georgia State University
Margaret Morgan-Davie, Hamilton College
Monique Morrissey, Economic Policy Institute
Fred Moseley, Mount Holyoke College
Philip Moss, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Eshragh Motahar, Union College
Akira Motomura, Stonehill College
Tracy Mott, University of Denver
Catherine P. Mulder, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
Kranti Mulik, Union of Concerned Scientists
Alicia Munnell, Boston College
Richard Murnane, Harvard University
Michael Murray, Bates College
Marta Murray-Close, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Ellen Mutari, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Samuel Myers, University of Minnesota
Sirisha Naidu, Wright State University
Michele Naples, The College of New Jersey
Julie Nelson, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Yeva Nersisyan, Franklin and Marshall College
Reynold Nesiba, Augustana College (South Dakota)
Zohreh Niknia , Mills College
Eric Nilsson, California State University, San Bernardino
Roger Noll, Stanford University
Abdullah Noman, Nicholls State University
Nathan Nunn, Harvard University
Michael Nuwer, State University of New York, Potsdam
Seamus O’Cleireacain, Columbia University
Carol O’Cleireacain, Economic Consultant
Jeffrey O’Hara, Union of Concerned Scientists
Erik Olsen, University of Missouri, Kansas City
Paulette Olson, Wright State University
Paul Ong, University of California, Los Angeles
Paul Osterman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rudolph Oswald, AFL-CIO (retired)
Ozay Ozge, Dickinson College
Bora Ozkan, Tulane University
Aaron Pacitti, Siena College
Spencer Pack, Connecticut College
Dimitri Papadimitriou, Bard College
Jairo Parada, Universidad del Norte
Elliott Parker, University of Nevada, Reno
James Parrott, Fiscal Policy Institute
Manuel Pastor, University of Southern California
Jennifer Pate, Loyola Marymount University
Eva Paus, Mount Holyoke College
Anita Pena, Colorado State University
Michael Perelman, California State University, Chico
Joseph Persky, University of Illinois, Chicago
Karen Pfeifer, Smith College (emerita)
Peter Philips, University of Utah
Bruce Pietrykowski, University of Michigan, Dearborn
Chiara Piovani, University of Denver
David Plante, Western State Colorado University
Mary Kay Plantes, Plantes Company, LLC
Jeffrey Pliskin, Hamilton College
Robert Plotnick, University of Washington
Karen Rosel Polenske, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Robert Pollin, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Mark Price, Keystone Research Center
Kevin Quinn, Bowling Green State University
Codrina Rada, University of Utah
Steven Radelet, Georgetown University
Fredric Raines, Washington University in St. Louis
David Ramsey, Illinois State University (retired)
Steven Raphael, University of California, Berkeley
Wendy Rayack, Wesleyan University
James Rebitzer, Boston University
Mike Reed, University of Nevada, Reno
Michael Reich, University of California, Berkeley
Robert Reich, University of California, Berkeley
Siobhan Reilly, Mills College
Cordelia Reimers, Hunter College, City University of New York Graduate Center
Stephen Reynolds, University of Utah
Donald Richards, Indiana State University
Philip Robins, University of Miami
Michael Robinson, Mount Holyoke College
Malcolm Robinson, Thomas More College
Charles Rock, Rollins College
William Rodgers, Rutgers University
Dani Rodrik, Institute for Advanced Study
John Roemer, Yale University
Frank Roosevelt, Metropolitan College of New York
Samuel Rosenberg, Roosevelt University
Joshua Rosenbloom, University of Kansas
Stuart Rosewarne, University of Sydney
Sergio Rossi, University of Fribourg
Roy Rotheim, Skidmore College
Jesse Rothstein, University of California, Berkeley
Cecilia Rouse, Princeton University
David F. Ruccio, University of Notre Dame
Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University
Emmanuel Saez, University of California, Berkeley
Héctor Sáez, Holy Names University
Gregory Saltzman, Albion College
Isabel Sawhill, Brookings Institution
Peter Schaeffer, West Virginia University
William Schaniel, University of West Georgia
Thomas Schelling, University of Maryland*+
Ted Schmidt, State University of New York, Buffalo State
Stephen Schmidt, Union College
John Schmitt, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Geoffrey Schneider, Bucknell University
Juliet Schor, Boston College
Amy Schwartz, New York University
Elliott Sclar, Columbia University
Jason Scorse, Monterey Institute
Robert E. Scott, Economic Policy Institute
Ian Seda-Irizarry, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
Stephanie Seguino, University of Vermont
Renata Serra, University of Florida
Mohamad Shaaf, University of Central Oklahoma
Jean Shackelford, Bucknell University (emerita)
Harley Shaiken, University of California, Berkeley
David Shapiro, Pennsylvania State University
Robert Shapiro, Georgetown University
Rajiv Sharma, Portland State University
Dennis Shea, Pennsylvania State University
Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute
Lara Shore-Sheppard, Williams College
Steven Shulman, Colorado State University
Nicholas Shunda, University of Redlands
Laurence Shute, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Dan Sichel, Wellesley College
Perry Singleton, Syracuse University
Eric Sjoberg, University of Utah
Curtis Skinner, National Center for Children in Poverty
Peter Skott, University of Massachusetts
Courtenay Slater, Retired
Timothy Smeeding, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Niloufer Sohrabji, Simmons College
Aaron Sojourner, University of Minnesota
Robert Solow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology*+
Allen Soltow, University of Tulsa (retired)
Roger Sparks, Mills College
A. Michael Spence, New York University*
Peter Spiegler, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Janet Spitz, The College of Saint Rose
Case Sprenkle, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
William Spriggs, Howard University and AFL-CIO
Charles Staelin, Smith College
Brian Staihr, University of Kansas
J. Ron Stanfield, Colorado State University (emeritus)
K.C. Stanfield, DePauw University
Mark Stephens, Tennessee Tech University
Ann Stevens, University of California, Davis
Mary Stevenson, University of Massachusetts, Boston
James Stewart, Pennsylvania State University (emeritus)
Chace Stiehl, Bellevue College
Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University*
Chad Stone, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Diana Strassmann, Rice University
Cornelia Strawser, Bernan Press
Myra Strober, Stanford University
Woody Studenmund, Occidental College
David Sturges, Colgate University
Timothy Sullivan, Towson University
Lawrence Summers, Harvard University
William Sundstrom, Santa Clara University
Richard Sutch, University of California, Riverside and Berkeley
Paul Swaim, OECD
James Swaney, Wright State University (emeritus)
Sharon Szymanski, State University of New York, Empire State College
Michael Taillard, Bellevue University
Vis Taraz, Smith College
Linwood Tauheed, University of Missouri, Kansas City
Daniele Tavani, Colorado State University
William Taylor, New Mexico Highlands University
Lance Taylor, The New School for Social Research
Peter Temin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
David Terkla, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Ranjini Thaver, Stetson University
Mark Thoma, University of Oregon
Frank Thompson, University of Michigan
Emanuel Thorne, Brooklyn College, City University of New York
Chris Tilly, University of California, Los Angeles
Renee Toback, Economy Connection
Jim Tober, Marlboro College
Mayo Toruño, California State University, San Bernardino
Scott Trees, Siena College
Marjorie Turner, San Diego State University (emeritus)
A. Dale Tussing, Syracuse University
Eric Tymoigne, Lewis and Clark College
Laura Tyson, University of California, Berkeley
Lynn Unruh, University of Central Florida
David Vail, Bowdoin College
Hendrik Van den Berg, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
William Van Lear, Belmont Abbey College
Andres Vargas, Texas Tech University
Ann Velenchik, Wellesley College
Eric Verhoogen, Columbia University
Matías Vernengo, Bucknell University
Paula Voos, Rutgers University
Jeff Waddoups, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Norman Waitzman, University of Utah
Lawrence Waldman, University of New Mexico
William Waller, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Robert Wassmer, California State University, Sacramento
John Watkins, Westminster College (Salt Lake City)
David Weiman, Barnard College and Columbia University
Scott A. Weir, Wake Technical Community College
Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Charles Weise, Gettysburg College
Thomas Weisskopf, University of Michigan
Christian Weller, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Sarah West, Macalester College
Cathleen Whiting, Willamette University
Howard Wial, University of Illinois, Chicago
Jeannette Wicks-Lim, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Charles Wilber, University of Notre Dame
Sarah Wilhelm, SA Wilhelm Consulting
John Willoughby, American University
Valerie Wilson, National Urban League
Margrethe Winslow, University of San Francisco
Jon Wisman, American University
Barbara Wolfe, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Edward Wolff, New York University
Max Wolff, The New School
Marty Wolfson, University of Notre Dame
Rossitza Wooster, Portland State University
Brenda Wyss, Wheaton College (Massachusetts)
Todd Yarbrough, Aquinas College
Yavuz Yasar, University of Denver
Anne Yeagle, University of Utah
Linda Wilcox Young, Southern Oregon University
Ben Young, University of Missouri, Kansas City
Helen Youngelson-Neal, Portland State University
Carol Zabin, University of California, Berkeley
David Zalewski, Providence College
Paul Zarembka, State University of New York, Buffalo
James Ziliak, University of Kentucky
Andrew Zimbalist, Smith College
Jeffrey Zink, Morningside College
Michael Zweig, State University of New York, Stony Brook

http://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-statement/

Have fun. You can google most of their addresses, I assume.

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They didn't say anything about a $15.00 per hour min. wage for Cambridge.
They are looking for a $10.10 federal min. wage.

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The section I quoted has nothing to do with the amount of the minimum wage hike. If you think $10.10 is somehow more reasonable than $15, that's your argument to prove not mine. Just saying you like $10.10 better than $15 for reasons undetermined is wholly unconvincing. I'd say what's reasonable is to be able to raise 1-2 kids with 2 parents making minimum wage without needing food stamps or government assistance of any kind. Determine the minimum wage that satisfies that (which means taking into account the cost of living in the location you're talking about). Then we can talk about what would be "too much" to set it at. Until then, all you're doing is draining from all of us to allow companies to pay less than what it takes to live as a family.

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The minimum wage should be fifty dollars an hour.

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Chasing the California disaster (or I guess Seattle, where things aren't going so well either).

There will be repercussions: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-08-14/first-restaurants-raise...

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The linked article speculates about the relative impact but offers no real before/after statistics about the actual impact of the wage increasing. It's reads like some semi-drunk stranger a bar spouting out political predictions to the ether.

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And won't be for awhile.

In the meantime ...

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.how the selfishness cult has jealous fits and fears of a falling sky whenever an upward adjustment in pay for the peons is mentioned?

And the array of rationalizations rarely change.

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Or why not work at all and live off tax dollars for 40k a year.

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I can't afford to move to Denmark.

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"Writing doom-and-gloom predictions about the ruin that will befall businesses if the minimum wage goes up" seems to be among them. Just plug in a number and recycle old predictions that failed to come true every other time poor people got a break, and a bot could write the rest.

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Push a few buttons, a cup plops down followed by a stream of hot liquid. In the decades since, there are more baristas and coffee pourers now than ever before!

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And NO SUCH THING as a Keurig Machine right?

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You reap what you sow. The good people of Cambridge elected him. Now they can suffer the consequences of giving an idealistic young councilor a platform from which to wreak havoc that will far outlast his term. But I hope it does pass and we continue to see a mass exodus of small businesses. Who would like to read the minutes from the city council sessions where people subsequently complain about the fact that the only businesses the city can attract are big national chains?

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If all the unique and interesting locally owned shops in Harvard Square were replaced by boring national chains ...

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But you get upset when people try to tar all of Boston with the same brush.

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...is the point going over your head. When Adam points out that Harvard Square has largely been taken over by large chains, it's not tarbrushing, it's a fact.

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You're in such a rush to be rude that you've ignored the context.

The fact that Harvard Square has been taken over by large chains does not interfere with the fact that Cambridge consists of more than Harvard Square.

To view Cambridge as a whole based on what you see in Harvard Square is akin to viewing Boston as a whole by what's happened in, say, the South End — a narrow perspective that Adam has fought to defeat, yet here he's applied it to a neighboring town.

It's a fair point. You have a lot of misplaced aggression.

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...a misplaced sense of diction. I recommend a copy of Strunk & White, or a quick Google search on the phrase "tarbrush".

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The idiom I used was "tar with the same brush." And you're snidely suggesting I pick up a copy of Strunk & White? Physician, heal thyself.

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Tar with the same brush: to characterize with the same undesirable attribute, especially unjustly. That doesn't apply to a simple, value-neutral observation about the makeup of businesses in one neighborhood.

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This is a proposed economic measure that would impact every business in the city of Cambridge — not just Harvard Square.

To take a mockingly sarcastic corporate-strong "observation about the makeup of businesses in one neighborhood" and suggest that those are the conditions throughout the entire city is the very definition of tarring with the same brush.

I do not understand why you are persisting with this.

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your intern reads this.

Someone just got a raise.

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Scroll to PDF page 37-164 or so for the City of Boston Compensation Advisory Board Report
after clicking on... Packet
for Regular City Council Meeting 8/12/2015
http://www.cityofboston.gov/cityclerk/citycouncil/meetings.asp

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Better load up on irobot stock - it's only a matter of time before they come up with something much more economical than $15/hour burgerflipper/plasticorpaperer/floorsweeper/etc.

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...because the minimum wage jobs of Cambridge are such a devastating economic force that some Sloan School punks are going to run right out to robotize it, and all these small business people that everyone's clutching their pearls about who can't afford $15 minimum wage will have no problem affording their product. Hold your breath for that one.

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One-time cost burger-flipping robot makes more sense than a $32,000 (plus taxes/benefits/etc) per year burger flipper, even to a small business barely making ends meet.

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Bold type does not a citation make. Please provide references to the $25,000 one-time-and-no-recurring-costs robot that a non-standardized small business can buy and fully replace the work done by a human being.

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On bleedingheartedness (and most likely a nice chunky trust fund) - we already have $200 robot vacuums/floor washers. It wouldn't cost that much to beef them up for heavy commercial use, and all those $15/hour wax on/wax off folks are going bye bye. As for burger flipping, all you need is a timer and a couple motors, and a place to bolt it onto a grill - it can probably be made for $2,500, not $25,000.

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(and most likely a nice chunky trust fund)

Stop making stupid assumptions about people. You just make yourself look like an idiot.

we already have $200 robot vacuums/floor washers. It wouldn't cost that much to beef them up for

Yes, I've heard of roombas too. You have come up with examples of automation that can take over some human tasks. You have not come up with an example of a robot that can replace a human. Or do you really think that people walk into McDonald's, assume the position by the grill, and do absolutely nothing but "flip burgers" for eight hours straight?

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You said " Sloan School punks "
and then you said ,"Stop making stupid assumptions about people. You just make yourself look like an idiot."

So I assume you know all these people personally and they would agree that they are punks?

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I work in software. I have lots of engineering friends.

If you think a burger-flipping robot is a "one-time" cost, then knock yourself out opening the first robot-only burger joint.

If you think my services or my engineering friends' services are less than $32k/yr, draw up the contract...I don't subscribe to the Sunday paper any more, so I'm fresh out of funnies to read.

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In a perfect world, nobody would do menial labor ever. It's unpleasant, (or even if you don't mind the work it's a bit dull) so having machines that don't experience such displeasure do it instead is a real improvement. Since most people need to work for a living we're in an awkward position where people need to hold onto their terrible jobs in order to not starve, but in the long run, the goal should be automate unpleasant work and let people do what they enjoy.

Raising the minimum wage alone doesn't really address the whole "need to work to live" problem, but as long as most people keep their jobs or find other jobs we can nudge things in that direction.

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I for one welcome this change. Think of all the businesses that will flee Cambridge to Boston, Somerville, etc.

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What businesses in Cambridge are currently paying less than $15 an hour? Do you think that there are large factories that will blithely up and relocate to neighboring communities where the wages are lower (and guaranteed to stay that way)? Or are they perhaps retail businesses for whom relocation means finding an entirely new customer base? How easily do you suppose they'll do that in the neighboring suburbs?

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If I'm thinking about opening a new restaurant, or shop, or whatever, and I can pay my employees $15 in Cambridge, or $9 a few blocks up the street or across the river, what am I going to choose?

We're talking about a 66 percent increase in the minimum wage. That's significant. Let's not pretend there won't be any negative consequences to this. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

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Your staff is going to be made up of people who don't know they can get a raise by going those same few blocks. Enjoy the lunch rush!

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I'm not walking to Somerville to buy your sandwich, so good luck with that.

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So, you have no qualms about paying your hypothetical new employees $9.00 an hour where one needs to make $80K plus, per year, to afford an apartment rental in Boston?

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Are you saying McD/BK/etc should be paying burger flippers $80,000 and hour just because that's how much one needs to rent a luxury 1 bedroom apartment in Boston? Last time I checked this is USA, not USSR - unskilled laborers tend to make less than nurses or programmers.

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Burger flippers are on strike, let's give them $15 an hour. Next thing you know, there will be a "we're not burger flippers, we want more money!" strike amongst lower-paying skilled workers (mechanics, EMTs, social workers, etc.) Then, there will be a "we're not drones" strike amongst lower-level management. Then a "we're not lower-level management" amongst mid-level management, then upper management - you get the idea...

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Slippery slope arguments always fail because they're pure speculation.

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Are you naïve enough to think everyone currently making around $32,000 a year doing skilled and/or dangerous labor, or perhaps having spent a crapload of money on their degree, will be OK with burger flippers pulling in the same salary?

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? He blames the evil "overlords" to keep people fighting amongst themselves. Gah...

One person's misguided opinion. If a licensed electrician is making $13 an hour, then ya, they've got every right to be upset that a job that just about anyone can do which requires no skils pays more. Of course, I know of no electrician making $13 an hour. Down south where wages are lower, but NY?

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You have a job. Your neighbor has a job. If he gets a raise so that he now makes the same as you, is that somehow going to take money out of your pocket? Or will your $32,000 suddenly buy you less?

If you had a beef with your $32,000 before, it wasn't with your neighbor, it was with your employer. If your neighbor gets a raise from HIS employer, you still don't have a beef with him.

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It's value. Flipping a burger for a living requires no education. Salary is usually market driven. A burger flipper today can be easily replaced tomorrow.

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The question is a very simple one. You have a job. Your neighbor has a job. Your neighbor gets a raise and is now making as much as you. How does this deprive you in any material way? Please be specific.

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Higher prices due to higher labor costs. Lower investment returns due to lower profits - that retirement plan of yours most likely holds all those evil corporations that are going to tank once their profit margins are shot. So, less money in that retirement account of yours, and less stuff your unchanged paycheck can buy - how does that not deprive you in any material way?

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Why would anyone do dangerous and/or difficult manual labor or spend money going to school when they can Get the same salary bagging groceries or flipping burgers? Not everyone's a bubble-dwelling bleeding heart idealist - lots of people work for money, not for their personal enjoyment. Why would they kill themselves in their highly demanding jobs when they can get the same paycheck for simple up and down arm movement? if burger flippers make 32k, social workers, teachers and paramedics should get 64k at the very least, right off the bat. In Bumfuck, MO that is, assuming $15 becomes federal minimum wage - they have every right to demand at least $100k in cities like Boston or NY, along with everyone else in the skilled labor force. But then again, cost of living is a foreign concept to occutard clowns like you...

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Not everyone's a bubble-dwelling bleeding heart idealistt

But then again, cost of living is a foreign concept to occutard clowns like you...

Oh well played, anon coward, well played. You're an idiot and you don't have the first idea what you're talking about, but you get points for enthusiasm. Or at least, you get points for reciting what you've been trained to say, very very well.

People work for money, yes, that's part of it. Most of them don't work just for money, however. There are other factors such as aptitude, such as availability, such as the fact that some people have moral qualms about doing certain kinds of jobs and moral or ethical reasons why they want to do other jobs. Why would someone turn down a job with more money? I don't know, have you asked a parent who wants to spend more time with their kids, and realizes that what they're making is enough? Why would someone do something difficult and dangerous and not just go for the job with more pay? I don't know, have you asked a Navy SEAL? Have you asked a Coast Guard rescue diver?

And you say I'm "bubble-dwelling". You're the one with the blinkered worldview. I truly wish you the best of luck on getting over that.

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At Dwelltime in Cambridge last weekend, where they have a "no computers at the table" brunch, a barista kindly reminded a computer "scientist" of this restriction and the reaction was "i am developing an app to revolutionize the future, you wouldn't even have a job here if it wasn't for us so don't tell me what I can and can't do."

I hope this passes as it will be a strike against the millennial intelligencia at MIT and Harvard that only care about the rights of others if they magically unionize or are female, minorities and can learn to program video games.

Instead of doing real science, they are developing apps and robots to replace bartenders and other service workers. Give the blue collar folks some reason to beat the STEM oligarchy out of Cambridge and make it a place where all businesses can thrive instead of it being an autistic playland and surrogate bedroom for computer kids.

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If you seriously believe that the "STEM oligarchy" cares about the rights of women, no matter what they can do in the workplace, then all I can say is, you're a profoundly ignorant man.

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"you're a profoundly ignorant man."

UHub is getting more and more like every other blog out there. What a shame.

Really, is it just me or was it a bit more civil before?

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...to tell women and minorities that they're riding high on the white man's back?

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There's been a profound push to get women and minorities into STEM (specifically computer science) related fields but it has nothing to do with engaging interests, but all to do with the arrogance of the tech industry in that they believe that anyone not in tech is lower than them. Teaching computer programming to inner city 6 year olds is not to going to engage them any more in high level mathematics than if they were interested in college, same with many women. If there is no interest, then it won't be pursued. It can't be forced. It's more of the idea that anyone that isn't in a STEM field is of a lower class. This is why the Cambridge intelligencia cares only their best and brightest 18-25 year olds and the hell with anyone else.

Look at how San Francisco's push is to price out and marginalize anyone that doesn't make STEM money or works in those fields. The lower paying jobs there are designed exclusively to be servants to computer programmers and engineers. This is what they want to do to Cambridge as well.

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If there is no interest, then it won't be pursued.

Eh. This myth of "no interest" persists: "Oh, we're trying really hard to hire and promote women, but I guess they're just not interested!" Of course. What else could it possibly be? Couldn't possibly be a sexist corporate culture...naaaaaah...

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Isn't that a concern of individual companies? How is someone supposed to know the inner working of a corporate culture when they're in high school looking to choose a program in college. Would a young girl interested and with aptitude for computer science turn down specialization in college based on something she doesn't even know about?

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