Impact of Minimum Wage on Unemployement Essay Example for Free

Impact of Minimum Wage on Unemployement Essay â€Å"We cannot unambiguously conclude that a minimum wage increase will increase unemployment levels†. Discuss. The essay is outline as follows. Firstly, I would define some of the key terms. Secondly, I would outline the reasons for the statement. Lastly, I would provide the concluding remarks. Unemployment is when those members of the labour force who are willing and able to work cannot find a job. Minimum Wage In a perfectly competitive labour market, the equilibrium wage should be W1, where labour supply = labour demand. Wages are artificially altered when the price floor is imposed. An increase in the wage rate encourages the economically inactive to enter the labour market, causing an expansion in the supply of labour. The minimum wage raises the marginal cost of employing workers, thereby causing a contraction of labour demand. From an excess supply of labour, only the workers who are skilled will be employed. The least skilled, thus least productive will be priced out of the market leaving them involuntarily unemployed. The change in employment levels is the product of the elasticity of labour demand multiplied by the proportional rise in the wage. Any increase in the minimum wage will be passed on to consumer prices. If demand for the product is inelastic, the increased price will not effect consumption of the good to a great extent. So employment rates would remain relatively the same. The opposite effect would happen for elastic good. If labour costs make up a small proportion of total costs, then any increases in the wage rate would have little effect on employment, as total costs would have only increased by a small amount. Where labour and supply are both inelastic, employment costs are minimised. If they are both elastic, more jobs are lost. Although according to classical theories, the reason that minimum wage increase will increase unemployment levels is because minimum wage would increase the cost of labour, which lead to an increase in the cost of  production of the firm. Firms would have cut human resources (labour) in order for the firms to control their cost of production. As a result it would leads to a increase in unemployment rate. But in reality, it work differently. In fact the experience of the UK is that a 67% increase in the National Minimum Wages has reduced unemployment and increased employment. It would have lead to a strong Economic Growth. In period of economic growth, firms employ more workers as there is more demand to produce goods. Economic growth in the UK has averaged 2.5% since 1999 In addition, the power of Monoposony should not be ignore. Classical theory assumes that the labour markets are competitive, but in practice workers often face employers with buying power. This means firms are able to pay workers less than the market wage. Therefore, when a government artificially raises wages, firms can actually afford to pay them. It is argued minimum wage legislation is similar to anti trust regulation. Thus, it would lead to an increased productivity. A study by David Metcalf found that firms responded to increased wages by increasing the productivity of workers, especially in the service sector. This is important because it suggests that higher wages can actually help increase productivity in the economy. Firms would lower working hours in respond to the increase in the minimum wage. Rather than make workers redundant, firms have reduced the average hours worked. This is related to part 3, firms try to get higher productivity in a shorter time, so they can afford the minimum wage. Pass on Cost increases. Because the minimum wage affects all firms, it is easier for the cost increases to be passed onto consumers. e.g. because all cleaning firms have higher wage costs, they can all increase their prices. If the wage increase just affected one firm, they would become uncompetitive. Firms would also think of different problems to avoided of Minimum Wage. It  is uncertain to ascertain the extent of this problem, but some firms have circumvented the minimum wage legislation by employing immigrant labour and paying them lower wages. It also makes it more attractive to employ young workers. To conclude, although an increase in minimum wage in theory would lead to an increase in unemployment, but in practical, it would not much negative impact on the employment rate. Therefore, we cannot unambiguously conclude that a minimum wage increase will increase unemployment levels.

Free Glass Menagerie Essays: Symbols :: The Glass Menagerie

Symbols in The Glass Menagerie In the play, The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, Williams uses many symbols which represent many different things.   Many of the symbols used in the play try to symbolize some form of escape or difference between reality and illusion.   The first symbol, presented in the first scene, is the fire escape.   This represents the "bridge" between the illusory world of the Wingfields and the world of reality.   This "bridge" seems to be a one way excursion.   But the direction varies for each character.   For Tom, the fire escape is the way out of the world of Amanda and Laura and an entrance into a world of new dimensions.   For Laura, the fire escape is a way into her own world. A way to escape from reality.   Amanda perceives the fire escape as a way for gentlemen callers to enter their lives.   She is also trying to escape her own vacant life.   Our author, Tennessee Williams utilizes the fire escape as a literal exit from his own reality as well.   His wa y of escaping is through the play.   In Tom's opening speech, he says, "I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion."   This quote refers to Williams' own life told through the play.   Everyone in the play seeks haven from their lives, attempting to escape into an imaginary fallacy world.   In "The Glass Menagerie," Williams' fire escape portrays each of the character's need to use the fire escape as a literal exit from their own reality.   Ã‚  Ã‚   The Glass Menagerie is set in the apartment of the Wingfield family.   By description, it is a cramped place located in the city of St. Louis.   It is one of many apartments in the neighborhood.   Of the Wingfield family members, none like living in the apartment.   The only reason that traps them in their submissive dwelling is poverty.   The concept of escaping their own lives and retreating into an illusion world has entered each of the character's minds.  Ã‚   Escaping from this lifestyle, this apartment, and these relationships is a significant theme throughout the play.   These escapes are linked with the symbolic "fire escape" as well as the absent Mr. Wingfield.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Mr. Wingfield left his family for a life on the road.   "He worked for the telephone company and fell in love with long distances."   This action left Tom with all of the responsibilities in the family including taking care of his half-mad, overbearing mother, Amanda and a disabled sister, Laura.

Peter Singer: The Golden Rule

World poverty is arguably at the forefront of issues plaguing our society as a whole today. I found an article displaying some of Peter Singers thought experiments that will further help display his beliefs. In his essay The Singer Solution to World Poverty, world-renowned author and philosopher Singer claims he has the solution. Singer asserts that materialism is the roadblock preventing the third world's climb from despair into prosperity.The author begins his essay by detailing two thought experiments; the first recounts a Brazilian film, â€Å"Central Station,† in which the main harasser, Dora, unknowingly causes a young boy to be sold into the organ trade. After some debates as to Odor's real motives, as well as further contemplation, Dora decides to rescue the boy (Singer).Singer applauds Odor's actions and notes that had Dora decided the boys fate was not her responsibility and kept the money she gained as a result of her part, the movie's audience would have demonic he r; conversely she maintains a positive light in the eyes of those watching the movie only by rescuing the boy. Singer further notes however, that most of those able to go see a movie, are in a better place than Dora herself, explaining how what she gave up to save the boy was of greater value than the audience could relate to (Singer).Singer then raises an ethical question: What is the difference between Dora selling the child into the organ trade, and the average American who chooses not to donate money to organizations that could benefit a child in similar situation of need? Singer acknowledges the situational differences of physically putting a child in that situation compared to mere inaction, yet, pointing out that he is a utilitarian philosopher; he claims the end results are the name (Singer). Singer's next thought experiment details a character named Bob who is close to retirement and owns a very valuable classic car.To sum things up Bob finds himself in a situation where a child is dangerously trapped on a train track. Bob is the only one around and the only way he can save the child is by diverting the train down a separate track, resulting in the destruction of the car. In the story, Bob chooses not to divert the coming train, the child is killed, and bob proceeds on in his life with the car, which brings him years of enjoyment and financial security (Singer). Singer argues that Bob's actions are clearly morally incorrect, and claims most would agree.However, Singer states that most readers who would quickly condemn Bob's actions are not much different. Singer cites calculations saying the $200 in donations, after all the deductions made by organizations and politics, would essentially save the life of an imperiled toddler in a third world country, or at least give them a significant chance at reaching adulthood (Singer). Singer next argues those who have money to spare and do not donate it, are effectively as morally wrong as Bob, who watched a hil l brutally die (Singer).Singer goes on to detail how much of the western world has massive wealth surpluses. He again cites research claiming the average American household spends close to forty percent, or twenty thousand dollars annually on superfluous spending. Singer marvels at how many children that small amount of money could save, and continues to detail that while a household income an increase, it's necessary spending proportionately does not, freeing up even more unneeded income. Through this logic Singer claims a household making $100,000 annually, could donate nearly $70,000.Singer wraps his argument up with a simple equation; all money being spent on luxuries and anything other than a necessity, should be given away. Furthermore, all money being spent on luxuries is indirectly resulting in the deaths of innocent youth, and those doing the spending, are morally responsible for avoidable deaths of impoverished children. Singer aims to demonstrate, that while Bob likely th ought he was quite unlucky to be put in such a situation, in fact he was not, and all of us with additional income are in the same boat.Clearly, Singer hopes to open the eyes of richer nations and invoke a sense of accessibility towards making their extraneous means count toward the world's well being, and arguably he does so. With the demonstrations of the detailed stories I explained earlier, Singer indeed executed his beliefs fairly well. Anyone with a conscious and decent moral compass can admit the life of another human being is worth saving, many would agree it would not hurt to give up western luxuries to do so.Singer makes it easy to see how the wealth of the western world could ago long way in restoring health and prosperity into some areas of the world which are very much in need. On the surface Singers conclusion: we ought to give a country in famine aid seems like it would work great. In the long run, Singer's plan will not be successful. Let's break down the logical com ponent of Singers argument. First off, Singer relies almost entirely on his consequentiality ethics this has some telling drawbacks.While the worldwide effect of such thinking is usually positive, since such ethics rely on cost/ benefit analysis, the hard conclusions are rarely so simple. A reoccurring problem with such thinking is the secondary, and tertiary effects are not usually factored in. Once we apply that critical template to Singer's thinking, some momentous issues emerge, namely, economics. If we as Americans were to take all our extraneous income, and simply donate it to countries in need, what would the end result be?The economic ramifications would gigantic, and while this may seem extreme, we could wind up in a simple role reversal, quickly finding ourselves in need. Again, this is extreme, but it effectively demonstrates the results. Our economy relies on extraneous spending, it is the only way it can sustain itself. Simply put there is no re- deeding effect from don ations, no recirculation of wealth, no more money to receive, and thus unnecessarily spend again. As a result, the supplemental income Singer refers to would quickly disappear.From a more cynical perspective, let's critique Singer's utilitarian views on a scarier level. A more chilling result from Singer's solution is population increase. As ‘immoral' as it may be, all of the children who do not live past there earlier years help keep the problem at bay. In reality if we were to embrace singer's solution, a quick result would be thousands of young impoverished children surviving into adulthood. A lightly slower result would be all of those impoverished children growing up, and raising impoverished families, effectively multiplying the problem.While as I said, this is cynical, it is also utilitarian. What is good for those impoverished children, is not necessarily good for society, and throwing all our extra income at them, isn't going to magically cure their situation. In actu ality though, my best argument for Singer's solution is a simple one. Think about it, how many impoverished children are in the age bracket (toddlers) that Singer refers to? One million? 100 million? At $200 per child, that large overestimation moms out to twenty billion dollars. Initially such statistics support Singers argument.The United States alone has a gross economy in the trillions, so shaving a little off the top should go a long way to help right? In reality world poverty is not a new problem, and I can think of several wealthy westerners, who collectively could easily write a check for that. And arguably have gone a long way in their attempts to do so. This argument speaks for itself; money is not the answer. While it definitely is one of the means necessary to help solve this problem, it is not the chief factor in fixing this issue. These people need societal and political reform. 200 per child is not going to halt genocide in Africa, or change the fact that certain soci eties in South America simply are not conducive to public health. All this goes to illustrate how much Singer chooses to leave out of his solution. Singer makes a solid argument, with huge social and financial implications, yet it is not without holes. The author, being both a scholar and a philosopher, has a smooth writing style, and it shows. He invokes Just the right amount of inquiry, logic, and writes with such an authority that it becomes easy to to question both his statistics and the evidence he either omitted, or did not realize.Due to this, Singer's argument itself is markedly effective, making it is easy to feel compelled from the points he makes, and the illustrations he uses. He invokes strong feelings of guilt, and assigns a social liability for the welfare of those less fortunate, but his support is ultimately less than pragmatic. While Singer's intentions are pure, and to such a degree are worth of some merit, simple logically analysis of much of his deductively supp orted report shows his solution is impractical. This is not to say

Literature Review on What Is Strategy - 1840 Words

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An example of an apple company strategy-An apple organization â€Å"Steve job† vision of the strategic is that, making product differentiation, innovation and strategic position, and how to change the industry. According to the competitive Advantage written by Michael Porter in 1985 ‘Creating and sustaining superior performance is Generic strategies’. Generic strategies represent the varieties in strategic positions of a company. The concept of generic strategy is divided in three parts Product differentiation, cost Leadership and Focus. According to Porters company can have a focused or broad approach on product differentiation or cost leadership, in the given article Ikea and south west airlines are an example in this Ikea is based on the needs of customer group and south west airlines is based on offering a particular service variety in cost leadership, where as Neutrogena is based on product differentiation because, it is focused on sales its product distribution in drugstores and avoid price promotion. Where as Hambrick (1983a, p. 702) argue that It is simply not accurate to say that all generic strategies are equally possible within an industry . . . any broadly generic strategy is really a composite of numerous variations, not all of which are equally suited to a given situation. As author Michael E Porter (1996) in this article argues that;Show MoreRelatedHrd Audit Literature Review683 Words   |  3 PagesLiterature Review If you believe everything you read, better not read. 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