We already pay the cost of them paying less because we have to subsidize those employees via. government benefits. Why should the American people subsidize the profits of a corporation for years?
And do you see why I think this headline of all things is ironic?
People making more than 76k/year (~20% of workers in US) subsidize Walmart workers. Most people making less than 76k are getting subsidized - as they should be. I would prefer people doing productive work in Walmart getting subsidized than subsidizing people watching TV at home.
Right. But the part you are leaving out is that the children of Walmart's founder are among the richest people in the history of the world. We are subsidizing their wealth.
So increase the tax on Walmart, Walmart's founders, and the rest of their shareholders, and rich people in general. Raising wages at Walmart (or the minimum wage across the board) is a terribly inefficient solution to wealth inequality.
Well, that's one point of view, but I disagree. Subsidizing the wealth of ultra-rich people...and then trying to recoup it by increasing their taxes seems much more inefficient.
At best, raising the minimum wage results in a transfer of wealth from middle class people to poor people. Rich people don't spend any significant part of their money on the products of minimum wage labour.
At worst, it would result in unemployment and recession.
> Why should the American people subsidize the profits of a corporation for years?
Walmart already has extremely low profit margins, any increase in wages would be passed directly to their poor customers.
In fact, the status quo is the best way of solving the wealth inequality problem. That is, let Walmart make as much profit as they can and then tax the hell out of them, their well-paid executives, and their shareholders and redistribute that tax money to the poor.
How about this: Walmart pays a 30% effective corporate income tax rate. One of the highest on earth. You have to compare them to oil companies like Exxon to find higher rates. A rate significantly higher than the corporate income tax rates you'll commonly find in Europe.
Simultaneously they employ millions of worker that otherwise have few alternative job opportunities, and do so while consistently having among the lowest net income margins of any major corporation on the planet at ~3%. The mom & pop shops Walmart has often replaced were no better, they pay even higher wages than those businesses ever have.
And do you see why I think this headline of all things is ironic?