meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Peter Schiff Show Podcast

Minimum Wage, Maximum Stupidity – Ep 78

The Peter Schiff Show Podcast

Peter Schiff

Business, Politics, News, Business News, Investing

4.65.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2015

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary


* The Keynesian myth of mandating prosperity actually hurts the lower middle class and the working poor
* Something for nothing is appealing to voters, so politicians make empty promises that are good politics but bad economics
* A Seattle-based company called Gravity Payments has instituted a minimum salary of $70,000/yr
* This has given him great publicity, but how will this work in his company?
* Lower paying jobs will have to be eliminated, because they don't represent enough productivity to justify a raise that doubles the employee's cost
* Higher salaried workers are not hurt because they keep their job and perhaps get a raise for picking up the extra duties formerly handled by lower-salaried workers
* The most recent political gimmick in the State of Connecticut is a tax masquerading as a minimum wage law
* The Democratic State Legislature have proposed a law that will fine companies of 500 or more employees $1/hr for any worker who is paid under $15/hr
* How will this work in the State of Connecticut?
* Right away, business just over 500 employees will pare down to fall under the new regulation, so jobs will be lost
* In reality, this is just a tax increase on the people who can least afford it
* For employees who are currently working at the minimum wage, a $1 fine is cheaper than a raise from the current $9.15 rate to $15/hr, if they do not eliminate that person's job
* This is essentially another employment tax that will result in higher prices across the board
* Neither the employee nor the employer benefits
* For employees who are working above the current minimum of $9.15/hr a raise would cost the employer more than the $1 fine
* According to minimum wage law, it is illegal to cut the worker's pay - the only option is to cut the worker
* The penalty does not apply to higher paid workers; it only applies to jobs between the current minimum wage and the new minimum wage
* It will be cheaper to pay the tax than to raise wages, but there will be less money to to toward employees because a large percentage of the workers' wages are going toward a tax
* The reality of this new law, championed for the "little guy" is that the working poor will pay a higher marginal state income tax than the richest hedge fund managers in the state
* Will the voters be able to figure it out elected officials are going after the working poor?
* This tax will also raise the cost of living, wich also affects the poor more directly
* Packaging a tax to pass off as minimm wage is fraud
*
Our Sponsors: * Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/GOLD for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out DBJourney and use my code Schiff15 for a great deal: https://dbjourney.com * Check out Fast Growing Trees and use my code GOLD for a great deal: https://www.fast-growing-trees.com * Check out Plaud AI and use my code GOLD for a great deal: https://plaud.ai * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/gold for a great deal: https://www.quince.com * Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code GOLD20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com * Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code GOLD20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The Peter Schiff Show.

0:08.7

I want to talk a little bit about the minimum wage.

0:11.7

Again, you have this populist sentiment that's been sweeping the nation.

0:16.1

A lot of people unfortunately buy into this Keynesian myth of mandating prosperity through

0:23.0

legislation.

0:24.0

We all know that workers, wages are determined not by politicians but by their productivity.

0:30.6

But of course, the temptation of something for nothing is very appealing to voters.

0:36.2

And so politicians are certainly looking to make these type of empty promises.

0:41.1

It makes very good politics, but bad economics.

0:44.8

A recent example of this, I read about this last week and a company based in Seattle called

0:52.8

Gravity Payments.

0:55.0

The CEO of this company, he's a young guy, started the company himself, has announced that

1:00.9

he's going to have a minimum salary, not a minimum wage for low level workers, but a

1:07.4

minimum salary for his salary employees.

1:10.9

And the minimum is going to be $70,000 a year.

1:15.4

Of course, this is a great story.

1:18.0

The liberal media is eating this thing up.

1:20.5

Hey, here's an example of a good guy who's going to pay his workers 70,000 a year.

1:26.4

Why doesn't everybody do that?

1:28.1

Well, I'm going to look a little bit at this situation because it's not a big company.

1:31.6

He's got about 120 employees.

1:33.3

And of course, a lot of people in his company make a lot more than $70,000 a year.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Peter Schiff, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Peter Schiff and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.