Argumentative Essay: The Impact Of Raising Minimum Wage

Many debates on the impact that raising the federal minimum wage could possibly have on employment and the American economic system can be viewed on television today. Most of the arguments run along party lines with the yes vote on the Democratic side and the no vote on the Republican side of the aisle. Recently, on the Fox News channel, two people with differing opinions discussed the President’s desire to raise the minimum wage from $7.25/hour to $9 per hour. Mark Hannah and Tony Sayegh disagreed on the advantages and disadvantages for the increase of minimum wage. In this argument, Mark Hannah, a democratic strategist, is in favor to raise the minimum wage. He argues that minimum wage in the 1960s was over $10 according to the todays American standards and that due to this higher rate, unemployment dropped. He pointed out that Henry Ford paid people more money to work for him so that they could afford to buy the automobiles his company produced. Furthermore, he argues that the 13 states that have raised minimum wage, have seen a great increase in job employment. He believes this is consistent with capitalism. In the end, Mark Hannah pointed out that some businesses have a great deal amount of pressure and competition on them to pay their workers …show more content…
Instead, Mark suggests that the Free Market Economy, not the government, should decide how much money each individual deserves depending on how well employees perform their duties and how long they have been at a specific job. Expressing his opinion that the President’s example of employees with families being the people most affected was misrepresentative, he points out that most of the people with jobs that pay minimum wage are under the age of 24 and do not usually live off minimum wage