7000 Kids a Day – 2 Sets of Rules

I keep hearing radio ads about how 7,000 kids a day in the US drop out of high school. I wonder how many of those 7,000 kids a day – that’s over a million kids a year – who have no skills and no education are now agitating for a $15 per hour minimum wage?

And what’s so magical about $15 an hour? That translates to $30,000 per year at full time hours of 2,080 per year. That teenager standing behind the fast food counter taking your order is worth $30,000 per year?

Many promoters of $15 per hour give the impression there’s no consequence to increasing the minimum wage – certainly not to the business owner. So why not just make the minimum wage $25 per hour – what the heck. At 2,080 hours per year, that’s a $52,000 annual income. Who doesn’t want to make fifty thousand a year? So then, why not a minimum wage of say $30 or $35? If there are no consequences and only benefits, then why should it matter?

Update, September 9, 2016:

I found the following in the WSJ:

[box] Sept. 2, 2016 6:25 p.m. ET Economist Mark J. Perry writing on the blog of the American Enterprise Institute, Aug. 23: Cities and states around the country that are considering a hike in their minimum wages to $15 an hour might want to take a look at how that’s working out in the nation’s capital. . . . New BLS data for restaurant employment in July . . . tell the story pretty clearly. Since the DC minimum wage increased in July 2015 to $10.50 an hour, restaurant employment in the city has increased less than 1% (and by 500 jobs), while restaurant jobs in the surrounding suburbs increased 4.2% (and by 7,300 jobs). An even more dramatic effect has taken place since the start of this year—DC restaurant jobs fell by 1,400 jobs (and by 2.7%) in the first six months of 2016 between January and July—that’s the largest loss of District food jobs during a 6-month period in 15 years. [/box]

The above data from DC is for just a $10.50/hour minimum wage – think of the impact a $15/hr minimum wage would have.