Don’t know what to make of this. Seems very unTaiwanese to increase wages.
Knowing Taiwan, the prices of everything will just be jacked up 30% to compensate for the wage increase.
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That’s not just Taiwan, though. Messing with lowest wages always leads to the same result.
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So the proposal is…a moo point.
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True, but I’m always mildly impressed by the quick and coordinated way it happens in Taiwan.
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Well, if it happens, it will be a good time to change all the savings from NTD to foreign currencies and/or invest them, and wait for the inevitable inflation to lower the value of the NTD and cash in.
Don’t worry, it won’t happen. There’s no way the moneyed interests that control the DPP (and the KMT) are gonna let the minimum wage go up 30%.
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2017: pension reform, the government ends up having a lot of leftover cash
2018: 30% minimum wage increase, companies receive money from the government as “incentive”
2019: Taiwan = Venezuela
2020: Taiwan official name becomes “Silly Chinese Island that Made Stupid Decisions” soon after falling under the rule of the CCP.
I wouldn’t expect such a sudden change either from a basically centrist government, but it’s not unprecedented. They may be looking at recent developments in North America.
Taiwan has seen larger increases, though not recently.
The Min, wage is going up to NT$140 per hour. Small increase is better than no change, but still way too low in my thinking.
Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2016
Median wealth per adult: Taiwan 63134, United States 44977, Venezuela 893.
Allianz Global Wealth Report 2016
Per capita financial assets ranking: Taiwan 81424 (8th), Germany 47681 (18th), Colombia 1384 (47th)
Perhaps the Taiwanese will buy Venezuela!
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What tends to happen in Taiwan, marketers know that Taiwanese are stingy and won’t pay for higher products, so they keep the price but begin substituting junk to make up the difference, and eventually gets reported as another scandal. This is how inflation works in Taiwan.
There will just be fewer jobs available for teenagers and the lower rung who are willing to work for $130 an hour, but the law won’t allow it anymore, so now they can’t work at all. It affects the poor, or those wanting to move up the ladder.
Yeah, product deflation. Like with candy bars in the U.S.
Every time there is talk about raising the minimum wage, anywhere, there is all the talk of gloom and doom. The end of days. Unemployment will skyrocket to 200%, goods will rise in price 300%, we will all be begging for mercy to the robber barons.
20 years ago the state of MO tried to raise its minimum wage. There were ads from the anti camp that spanned the gauntlet of made up statistics to an apocryphal story from NJ, who 4 years earlier raised theirs. The story went unemployment increased 20% and prices increased 100% and 3 factories closed and moved overseas (to Taiwan!!!). The problem was, it was all bullshit. In the 12 months following the increase, unemployment actually fell. Prices kept with inflation. The 3 factories actually closed 10 years before, after a failed attempt to get taxpayers to subsidize them.
EDIT: Oops. Forgot to add that the measure failed. When asked why they voted against it, the public referenced the NJ example.
So, without dabbling into theories, can someone provide absolute hard facts where a minimum wage increase has directly caused a literal Armageddon to any state or city in the US that raised it in the past 50 years? Let your biases set you free, my little Friedmans.
This mentions the NJ bit.
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Well what has actually happened here in SAn FRancisco is that diners now have to pay a “minimum wage increase” 3pct or so on top of the bill and sales tax and on top of it all , they expect you to tip 15pct or 20pct. I give em 10. Call me Scrooge McDuck.
I heard about something like that. Not in SF, I do not think. But, yeah. People think people should be paid by whatever. Do not say market wages, since increases are market wages.
That said…
But was there a collapse? Did all the restaurants, and whoever else paid min wage pack up and leave and go to Oakland? Was there a massive increase in the prices of rents and other goods? Did unemployment skyrocket? Did it turn into Somalia or Afghanistan?
I actually saw a news report about some cafeteria workers at Facebook. I think they were getting minimum wage or more than minimum edge but they were excluded from bemefits due to being contractors so they were protesting.
So it’s not only minimum wage is the issue.
But I can’t believe they put an extra separate charge and call it minimum wage increase, that’s bullshit behaviour.