So I was walking to work the other day when a man approached me...

[Theben]

The Danes are on the Euro, right? $17/hour and 6% unemployment sounds pretty damn good over here!

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Theben
The Danes are on the Euro, right? $17/hour and 6% unemployment sounds pretty damn good over here!

Nope, we are not a member of the euro, we still run the hard currency called danish crowns.

[Theben]

What the exchange rate vs. U.S. $$?

[BlackCat]

Don't hang me if i'm not that accurate, but if my memory isn't wrong, then it was 1:7.5 some twenty years ago and now it's 1:5.25.

Edit : that's $ : DKK

[Zkribbler]

Putting a few more bucks into the hands of the working poor means they'll spend it on stuff, sales go up, eveyone wins.

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Putting a few more bucks into the hands of the working poor means they'll spend it on stuff, sales go up, eveyone wins.

Nah, that is just leftist propaganda, that only works if you are a bit to the left of attila the hun .

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Putting a few more bucks into the hands of the working poor means they'll spend it on stuff, sales go up, eveyone wins.

See my post. It results mostly in inflation.

[Flip McWho]

Did he say "hi", or some other variation of the same, the man that approached you?

I presume he did of course, I mean its rude not too. Especially if you're wanting somebody to sign something for you, but you never do know.

[Adam Smith]

Originally posted by DanS
Just to be painfully clear, that's a 3% decrease in overall employment, not just a 3% decrease in employment of those at the low end of the scale?

I think it is 3% decline in employment on the low end. I will have to check. My previous post was unclear.

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Putting a few more bucks into the hands of the working poor means they'll spend it on stuff, sales go up, eveyone wins.

But the $ have to come from somewhere ... other consumers ... so that's a wash. The harm is to people who would like to work but get pushed out of the market.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Adam Smith
But the $ have to come from somewhere ... other consumers ... so that's a wash.

Wrong. The working poor spend their money quicker, so the positive effects of the spending are accelerated.

Hoarded money doesn't help the economy; spent money does.

[Adam Smith]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Wrong. The working poor spend their money quicker, so the positive effects of the spending are accelerated.

A dollar is a dollar, no matter who spends it.

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Hoarded money doesn't help the economy; spent money does.

"Hoarded money" is known as savings, which becomes investment. Thinking that only spent money helps the economy is one reason why we don't save enough to replace our existing capital stock.

[Shi Huangdi]

I really think a far better method of raising wages would be a negative income tax. Put the burden of the additional wage beyond producitivity on society, and not just the employer. That would get rid of the employment effect of the minimum wage.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Hoarded money doesn't help the economy; spent money does

This is the same BS that Kidicious says . Adam Smith is right (as he usually is about things economics), savings is very important to an economy. The US has VERY low savings, which has been boosted by foriegn investment, which we have no idea how long it'll last. China has already made noises of buying up Euros instead of dollars.

[Jaguar]

Imran is right.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Wrong. The working poor spend their money quicker, so the positive effects of the spending are accelerated.

Hoarded money doesn't help the economy; spent money does.

Money doens't do anything. It's just a piece of paper. Even if it's true that the rich don't spend their money, then what you're suggesting is equivalent to simply introducing more money into the system - which means that while the working man may have more pieces of paper, they aren't worth as much.