The topic I chose is raising minimum wages in the United States. This topic was born from the idea of ​​the news. It was brought up in the discussion. This topic was interesting because I work at a retail store in New Jersey. The pay in New Jersey is seven dollars and twenty-five cents. In 2014 it will increase by a dollar, so it will be tough because prices will increase. This topic concerns me because I have now worked as a minimum wage worker, so I receive an hour's pay. If wages increase, something will decrease and increase. The minimum wage is the lowest hourly wage that employers can legally pay their employees. In the United States there is much discussion about whether or not to increase the current minimum wage from seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour. States are pushing for minimum wage increases by Democrats who appeal to America's working class. Congress wants to raise the minimum wage above seven dollars and twenty-five cents. The question of whether or not to raise the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage makes employers want to hire fewer minimum wage workers. It causes employers to replace machines and technology with labor. Hiring people becomes more expensive, so you move on to something else. Instead of hiring two people to plow snow with push plows, the employer purchases a push plow and employs one person who, with the faster and better push plow, can mow more plows at a faster pace, therefore eliminating the need for a second worker. On January 1, 2012, California's minimum wage was set at eight dollars an hour. Some people don't like the minimum wage increase because of the reduction in employment. Small businesses won't be able to afford to pay more. Minimum wage jobs aren't for people like... middle of paper... Another example imagine three competing coffee shops. All three must make a certain profit margin to stay in business and make their efforts worthwhile. So all three bars will lower their prices as much as possible, while still covering the necessary profit margin. If one of the stores tries to charge more, customers will simply go to the competitor's stores. Wages are the prices of labor, so the minimum wage is a price control. Like any price control, it has a ripple effect that prices of other services and goods must offset. When an employer's labor costs rise, it is forced to lay off workers and/or raise the prices of what it sells. As a result, abolishing the minimum wage will allow businesses to achieve greater efficiency and lower prices. Teens, college students, and interns all have their options and opportunities limited by the minimum wage.