Minimum Rage 

Since Atlas started back in 2009, we’ve held 10 Pie Parties each year (we go dark in November and December).  They are simple events designed to be an open dialogue with the attendees.  As the name suggest, guests are served pie and beverages as we discuss the topics du jour.  Covid-19 shut these down last year, but we started them back up at the end of March in a virtual format.  We’ll have another one on April 27th, so if you are interested in attending, please reach out, so you can receive a link to the event. 

As is often the case, during our March meeting, a discussion ensued which inspired a morning note.  The topic being considered was a potential national minimum wage of $15.00 an hour, and the responses were mixed.  Some brought up the improved standard of living employees would enjoy if their wages were increased.  One attendee suggested already struggling leisure and hospitality businesses could succumb to the additional pressure higher wages would bring to their bottom line.  In the end, the chat around the topic was lively and thoughtful, representing a variety of opinions from around the country. 

One city in particular is looking closely at the issue: Washington D.C.  Leaders in the Beltway have enlisted the help of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide some analysis of the matter.  This is a nonpartisan organization charged with providing impartial analysis to Congress for budget-related matters.  Its employees are hired for their competence, not their political leanings. 

The CBO recently released their findings on a proposed increase in the federal minimum wage to be raised annually in increments until reaching $15 an hour by June 2025.  Roughly 17 million people whose wages would otherwise be less than the proposed standard would be directly affected.  But the impact would be mixed.  On one side of the scale, about 900,000 people would move out of poverty.  That’s a lot of people enjoying an improved standard of living.  But the other side of the scale suggests employment would be reduced by 1.4 million workers.  That’s a lot of other people looking for work.   

Our Virtual Pie Party draws participants from around the country and this characteristic allows us to take a deeper dive into those disparate issues which makes this such a difficult topic for a dynamic country like America.  Travel from state to state quickly demonstrates how heterogeneous our economy is.  Regional differences make a monolithic solution like a single minimum wage difficult to implement for some areas while relatively easy for others.  New York City would likely have an easier adjustment than, say, Canehill, Arkansas.  Whatever the solution out of the Beltway is, it will benefit some while hurting others.  Atlas didn’t need any fancy CBO analysis to come up with that.