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Minimum Wage

Abolish the Minimum Wage!

Recent rumblings about National's reluctance to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour show astonishing economic ignorance from Labour MPs and unionists alike, insists Libertarianz Business Spokesman Luke Howison.

"The massive irony is that minimum wages make it more expensive for businesses to hire low-skilled workers like teenagers and new immigrants - exactly the kind of vulnerable people who need jobs the most."

"Put simply, forcing employers to raise wages regardless of employee productivity is a recipe for staff layoffs and a disincentive to job creation."

"Witness the massive fall in teenage jobs after the abolition of the youth wage, forcing businesses to pay teenagers adult wages.  When it becomes more expensive to hire 15 and 16-year olds, their jobs simply evaporate.  Businesses find a new way to get the job done, and the job market gets that much smaller.  Is this what we need in the middle of a recession?"

"If minimum wage laws really do magically boost incomes without negative effects, then why not make the minimum wage $100 an hour?! This example is ridiculous, but it exposes the fallacy behind this idiotic thinking."

"The Libertarianz Party would drop the minimum wage altogether, making it easier for low-skilled individuals to enter the workforce and gain valuable work experience.  We also advocate a $50,000 tax-free threshold to further help New Zealanders on low incomes."

"It's enough to make you vote Libertarianz!"

ENDS

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