Patricia Aguilar

Fal16_POLS001_73033
States' Rights
17 September 2016
States' Rights
I think State Rights are the rights that citizens have living in that particular state. It should be
practically similar to the rights we have in this country. Each state should be governing and
enforced by the proper appointed people to run the state. It should meet the needs of that state
citizens, and the citizens should abide by the rules. Every state is different in area, weather,
population, and traditions.
Summary On the Minimum Wage Articles Above
I chose to summarize articles on Minimum wage. The Articles write about minimum wage, it is
the lowest employers can pay their employees. The minimum wage is a law for all the workers
and those in certain industries. Minimum wage was established with the intent to pay workers
with less skills a fair wage. Not everyone agrees with the minimum wage like economists. The
minimum wage law became effective by the legislation as the Fair Labor Act was passed in the
year 1938. The minimum wage since 2007 has been raised to $5.85, to $6.55, and to 7.25 in
2009. Over 40 states in America have minimum wage laws now.
Other countrys like Canada have their own minimum wage set. Most of other countrys set their
minimum wage by agreement. Making an unofficial wage for their employees. Fast food

business owners do not agree with new minimum wage. Many fast food places would have to
consider reducing employees to accommodate the minimum wage.
The federal minimum wage from 2009 has gone up from $7.25, to $10.50, and will go up within
a year to $15 an hour. The fast food industry Is the most nervous about the new change. They
consider it will affect their business, because of sales growths and turnover rates. They have to
think long and hard on how not to have to resort to budget cuts. Budget cuts affect the employees
too making the raise for minimum wage senseless for everyone.

Articles on Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage is the smallest amount of money per hour that an employer may legally pay a
worker. It may be established by law to cover all workers or only those in certain industries. Selfemployed persons and employees of small businesses are often not covered by minimum wage
laws. Minimum wage laws are intended to raise wages for low-income workers without
substantially reducing their job opportunities. Economists, however, do not agree on whether the
minimum wage is an effective tool. Some economists feel employers do not hire as many lowincome workers as they would if no minimum wage existed.
In the United States, the minimum wage may be set at the federal or the state level. About 80
percent of all private industries are covered by the federal minimum wage. Federal minimum
wage legislation became effective when the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938. The
original act established a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour for 1938. The federal minimum
wage has been increased a number of times by amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The
latest amendment, passed in 2007, called for raising the minimum wage to $5.85 an hour in

2007, to $6.55 an hour in 2008, and to $7.25 an hour in 2009. Prior to the passage of this
amendment, the minimum wage had stayed at $5.15 for nearly a decade. In addition to the
federal minimum wage, more than 40 states have minimum wage laws or boards that set
minimum wages. The first state law was passed in Massachusetts in 1912. In instances in which
the state and federal minimum wages are not the same, an employer is obliged to pay the higher
of the two minimums.
In Canada, each province or territory sets its own minimum wage. There is also a minimum wage
for employees of the federal government. In the United Kingdom, a national minimum wage
went into effect in 1999. In some European countries, labor unions and employers establish
unofficial minimum wages by agreement.
Minimum Wage Article
We consider the extent to which U.S. fast-food businesses could adjust to an increase in the
federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour without having to
resort to reducing their workforce. We consider this issue through a set of simple illustrative
exercises, whereby the US raises the federal minimum wage in two steps over four years, first to
$10.50 within one year, then to $15 after three more years. We conclude that the fast-food
industry could absorb the increase in its overall wage bill without resorting to cuts in their
employment levels at any point over this four-year adjustment period. We find that the fast-food
industry could fully absorb these wage bill increases through a combination of turnover
reductions, trend increases in sales growth, and modest annual price increases over the four-year
period. Working from the relevant existing literature, our results are based on a set of reasonable
assumptions on fast-food turnover rates, the price elasticity of demand within the fast-food
industry, and the industrys underlying trend for sales growth. We also show that fast-food firms

would not need to lower their average profit rate during this adjustment period. [ABSTRACT
FROM AUTHOR]

Work Cited
2016. "Minimum Wage." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls
New World Encyclopedia, EBSCOhost (accessed September 17, 2016).
Pollin, Robert, and Jeannette Wicks-Lim. 2016. "A $15 U.S. Minimum Wage: How the FastFood Industry Could Adjust Without Shedding Jobs." Journal Of Economic Issues (M.E.
Sharpe Inc.) 50, no. 3: 716-744. Business Source Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed September
17, 2016).