Economics Essay
Morgan Krempel
Professor Holland
Economics 201
April 24, 2013
Minimum Wage Increase “Ultimately, the time is now. To raise the minimum wage, the time is now,” said Delegate Derek E. Davis, of Price George’s County. The increase in minimum wages has been a topic that has been on the rise with much controversy involved. President Obama wants state and lawmakers to increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour by 2018. Connecticut was the first state to pass the law, which will increase their minimum wage to $10.10 by January 1, 2017. Maryland is a year and half behind them, making the minimum wage $10.10 by July 1, 2018. The reason for Maryland’s delay is because they want to give businesses more time to adjust to the new and increasing price. The increases will be in steps. The first increase will be from now until July 2018, and will increase to $8 per hour on January 1, 2015. The second increase will be to $8.75 per hour in July 2016. The third increase will be to $9.25 in July 2017, and then the final increase to $10.10 in 2018. The graph below, from the congressional budget office website, shows the increases of wages over the time period.
President Obama commended Martin O’Malley and other lawmakers for “leading by example” in hopes that congress will follow. However, some counties have been setting their minimum wages even higher than $10.10. Montgomery and Prince George’s counties have approved their minimum wage increase to $11.50 by 2017. However, businesses are going to be allowed to pay a lower training wage to workers under 20 years old. However, this increase in wages has caused a lot of controversy and disagreement. This minimum wage increase applies to several models and concepts associated with our economics class. Some of these concepts are unemployment; specifically cyclical, inflation, demand, substitutions and consumer price index. Additional models that we have learned that also can be applied to the minimum wage increase are
Professor Holland
Economics 201
April 24, 2013
Minimum Wage Increase “Ultimately, the time is now. To raise the minimum wage, the time is now,” said Delegate Derek E. Davis, of Price George’s County. The increase in minimum wages has been a topic that has been on the rise with much controversy involved. President Obama wants state and lawmakers to increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour by 2018. Connecticut was the first state to pass the law, which will increase their minimum wage to $10.10 by January 1, 2017. Maryland is a year and half behind them, making the minimum wage $10.10 by July 1, 2018. The reason for Maryland’s delay is because they want to give businesses more time to adjust to the new and increasing price. The increases will be in steps. The first increase will be from now until July 2018, and will increase to $8 per hour on January 1, 2015. The second increase will be to $8.75 per hour in July 2016. The third increase will be to $9.25 in July 2017, and then the final increase to $10.10 in 2018. The graph below, from the congressional budget office website, shows the increases of wages over the time period.
President Obama commended Martin O’Malley and other lawmakers for “leading by example” in hopes that congress will follow. However, some counties have been setting their minimum wages even higher than $10.10. Montgomery and Prince George’s counties have approved their minimum wage increase to $11.50 by 2017. However, businesses are going to be allowed to pay a lower training wage to workers under 20 years old. However, this increase in wages has caused a lot of controversy and disagreement. This minimum wage increase applies to several models and concepts associated with our economics class. Some of these concepts are unemployment; specifically cyclical, inflation, demand, substitutions and consumer price index. Additional models that we have learned that also can be applied to the minimum wage increase are
Cited: My article: Johnson, Jenna. “Maryland Set to Increase Its Minimum Wage to $10.10 by 2018.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 07 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/md-house-passes-minimum-wage-increase/2014/04/07/05d5518a-be69-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html