Annotated Bibliography

Source 1: Dustin Hawkin. “10 Reasons Raising Minimum Wage Hurts the Economy”. usconservatives.about.com. About News. Web. 2 Oct. 2014. <http://usconservatives.about.com/od/economytaxes/fl/10-Reasons-Raising-the-Minimum-Wage-Can-Hurt-the-Economy.htm>

Reflection/Questions: I really thought that Hawkins made great points. What particularly caught my eye were reasons #5,6,8,9,10. In a one point he made, in a nutshell, he talked about how raising the minimum wage would inevitably raise the price of the things that are being sold because it costs more to keep workers around. Logical points such as losing unskilled workers and hiring less skilled workers were made as well that made a great point.

Summary/Notes: The main point of the article was the main point of how raising the minimum wage hurts; whether it be the economy, people, etc. This main point was supported by 10 reasons. Because I cannot talk about all 10 reasons here, I will sum it up for those at overlap in reason. One point that was made in a couple of reasons included that raising the minimum wage would be a temporary fix and would deteriorate the economy in the long run. Other reasons that were made included how raising the minimum wage hurts those that are trying to be helped because jobs will be taken away to those that are less qualified, as aforementioned. Also, from an economic standpoint, Hawkins made a point that raising the minimum wage hurts those economies that have different standards of living in different states/cities. Lastly, the author emphasized this point most by giving it a preface, saying that minimum wage is not a job that is meant to support a family of five but to give an individual the taste of an entry level job and idealistically move up in the future.

Source 2: Frank Worley-Lopez. “How to Hurt the Poor: Raise the Minimum Wage”. blog.panampost.com. The Canal. 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 2 Oct. 2014 <http://blog.panampost.com/frank-worley-lopez/2013/11/11/how-to-hurt-the-poor-raise-the-minimum-wage/>

Reflection/Question: I felt that Worley-Lopez’s piece was not persuasive. Maybe it was because I had read a great piece prior to this one but this piece had so many holes and flaws, I felt. He brings up many statistics of how raising the wage would hurt the economy and by using the statistics and claims of others, I felt like I could not fully trust their math. Worley-Lopez also did a lot of math which sort of disinterested the reader and made his argument weaker in my eyes. I’m not saying I am against or for the idea of raising minimum wage but the argument in the text did not persuade me.

Summary/Notes: This argument was why minimum wage should not be raised. Worley-Lopez supported his argument by providing logical reasons as to what it does to the economy, local consumers, and even other workers themselves. He uses a lot of mathematical reasoning to persuade the reader of how bad it is to raise the minimum wage to 10$ that the White House is proposing. He seems to emphasize the point where a minimum wage job is not supposed to support an entire family but primarily for lower age groups, preferably under 25, and to just give them a taste of an entry level job.

Source 3: Doug Bandow. “Raising Minimum Wage Will Hurt More than Help”. www.cato.org. Cato Institute. 9 Apr. 2013. Web. 27 Sep. 2014 <http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/raising-minimum-wage-will-hurt-more-help>

Reflections/Questions: I felt that this article made one great point in the article. That was toward the end of the article. Bandow quotes Democrat George Miller of the state of California, “it’s very unfair for people working for low wages who can’t support themselves.” However, Bandow came back with a very realistic point of saying how it’s fair for others to pay more of this minimum wage increase. Overall, I liked the argument Bandow was making and bringing up numbers from the Great Depression certainly helped.

Summary/Notes: Once again, Bandow writes about how raising the minimum wage will hurt more than help the economy. He supports this claim by supporting with various statistics particularly surrounding the idea that every time a new minimum wage is set (usually higher), it “prices people out of the market.” Also, Bandow brings up the many numbers from the late 20th century and even numbers from the Great Depression to support his purpose. Lastly, he makes a point saying that it would be only fair for the minimum wage to be set a standard, same thing with making everyone pay taxes, and same thing making the same people pay the same price for the same necessities.

Source 4: Andy Stern, Carl Camden. “Why we need to raise the minimum wage”. www.articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. 10 Mar. 2013. Web. 27. Sep. 2014. <http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/10/opinion/la-oe-stern-camden-why-we-should-raise-the-minimum-20130310>

Reflections/Questions: I like how Stern and Camden support the humanistic side of the argument. It seems that they base their argument off of the hard work that Americans put in and that in this economy, some families have to take minimum wage jobs in order to support their families. As a result I feel that they are trying to help those that need it. However, their constraint would be that maybe the people that need it most lose their job and the population that doesn’t need it gets to keep their jobs. (e.g. students, entry level workers, etc.)

Notes/Summary: Stern and Camden talk about why the U.S. needs to raise the minimum wage. They support their claim by saying that the hard work and long hours that Americans put in need to be recognized. They also add by saying that most families cannot support themselves through minimum wage jobs and that the wage needs to be increased.     They make a great point in saying that even after long hours after a hard day they come home knowing they cannot support their families without help from the government. In conclusion, they claim that workers do not value the work they put in because of what they get out of it.