may i ask

last SG · 2007-12-11T13:26:36+00:00

At least 10 bucks an hour that;s civil

unclebutcher SG

how come singapore has no minimum wage?

qlqq9 SG

Go ask hen the manpower minister but I can't guarantee he will give you a good reply. Hen, rooster, chicken, chick . . . .. . . . . . ....... . . . .

Demonight SG

He'll probably say it's $0.01..minimum what

qlqq9 SG

He will say he will find out, work out, or say something politically correct so as not to offend his master. I just find that this hen can't be trusted, he has one track mind.

walesa SG

If the despots implemented a minimum wage policy, how are they going to paddle to foreign investors that this regime is actually a rich souce of cheap skilled labour? This issue isn't much different from raising the question as to why free and independent trade unions are non-existent in dictatorships across the globe.

In the US, at least lawmakers have the decency to raise the minimum wage in view of the pay raises Congressmen have been receiving. On the other hand, tyrants in this despotic regime have been raising their own wages to levels unprecendented anywhere on this planet, yet the vulnerable and those on minimum wage jobs are so ruthlessly exploited their wages hardly commensurate with the standard of living here.

So much for Singapore being a safe place to live in. Laughing I guess the freedom to be devoid of any form of social security and picking garbage in one's twilight years must be worth the safety this regime offers... Cool

TooFree SG

In the US, at least lawmakers have the decency to raise the minimum wage in view of the pay raises Congressmen have been receiving.

As mentioned in the article, 'In America, the majority of low-income earners typically move up the income ladder by improving themselves, not because of the minimum wage.'

Somehow, did u hit the right note there? Confused

googoomuck SG

Overall, the reasons for the support of minimum wage are far more sensible than the reasons against it.

Many American SMEs that support the minimum wage increase in fact pay their employees wages higher than the minimum.

These workers, with greater purchasing power, will in turn spend more in their neighbourhoods, putting the money back to local businesses. The communities will thrive.

Four out of five small business owners say that a minimum wage increase would have either a positive effect or no effect on their business.

These are the words of business owners. The owners who are against minimum wage increase should perhaps re-look their business models.

sir sickolot II SG

we don't have a minimum wage because it would drive up production/ops cost. And we certainly can't have a min wage for singaporeans because companies have lots of 'foreign talents' to turn to for much lower wages.

The argument the government would necessarily give is that the Min wage would hurt those that the plan would orginally aid.

However, i think there is much literature on how singapore can have a minimum wage etc.... but my personal view is to remain competitive, this seemingly lack of welfare is a short term pain for long term competitive advantage.

Paradise Lost SG

Well, most probably the government weighed the pros and cons of implementing a minimum wage policy and decided that the cons aren't worth their while.

Discounting all political agenda and focusing purely on the economical Pros and Cons of having a minimum wage policy:

Pros:
- Increases wealth level and standard of living of the workforce.
- Does not have any budget consequence on the government's account as such a policy effectively translates to the firms chipping in a minimum compulsory amount to fund the labour market.

Cons:
- Increases the operational expenses of firms in the economy, thus in the long run might drive them away to cheaper labour-costs countries.
- And for the firms that stayed, the higher wage-induced operational expenses would be passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices in goods and services, effectively netting of any increase in wealth level brought on by the Minimum wage policy. In some cases, might even make the poorer folks even worse off if prices levels are increased disproportionately.

.. and many more of course, for both the Pros and Cons. These are what I feel are some of the main gists of having a Minimum Wage policy.

Edit: Typos

walesa SG

I was addressing the original issue of why there isn't minimum wage in this regime (and dictatorships at large). The merits of having a minimum wage is open to debate (and have been done elsewhere in other threads).

walesa SG

It's a silly way of looking at things. Economic policies can't work without sensible legislations. By throwing the door open to anyone remotely foreign (backed by legislations), you aren't exactly helping push up the wages of those performing menial jobs when the employers could just hire foreigners by the buckets, are you?

Try naming one country with a higher GDP per capita than this regime that actually has policies permitting the wanton hiring of foreigners on a scale that matches this fascist regime....

unclebutcher SG

just read my next yr j2 econs notes...apparently minimum wage is a market imperfection... Laughing Mr. Green

unclebutcher SG

oops double post...some person in the house is mass downloading stuff Twisted Evil

Paradise Lost SG

I don't get your point. What exactly are you referring to that signify a silly way of looking at things? The way I try to present both sides of an issue by listing some Pros and Cons (among a long list of others) or the fact that I purposely imply that I discount political agenda so we can examine the Minimum Wage policy objectively from a purely economical perspective?

But of course. I totally agree with you on this. The most well-intended economic policy can and will become useless or even counter-productive if sensible legislations aren't in place to see them through.

Singapore is indeed throwing her doors open to foreign sources of labour. An when theres a huge exogenous supply of labour, definitely wages will drop as the firms employ labour at low wage rates. That definitely does not help push up domestic wage rates at all.

Im afraid I can't as I don't have the exact statistic of any other country that has a higher GDP per capita than Singapore and has the equivalent or even higher rate of allowing foreign workers to enter the labour market. But I daresay that Singapore could be easily in the top 10.

kilua SG

I find some of your points debatable. Minimum wage is to protect unskilled labour, not the entire workforce. I dont think it would result in widespread price increase. It can be set at a level that prevents artificially low wages.

Also, wage cost is only a component of operating costs. Hasnt the govt just reduced the corporate tax rate? Wouldnt that offset of some the increased wage cost? Minimum wage may also compel business to improve productivity.

googoomuck SG

The Topic of Minimum wage has been discussed over and over again. I just copy and paste an extract from the old thread.

Hundreds of Economists Say:
Raise the Minimum Wage

Over 650 economists, including 5 Nobel prize winners and 6 past presidents of the American Economic Association, believe that increasing federal and state minimum wages, with annual cost-of-living adjustments for inflation, can significantly improve the lives of low-income workers and their families, without the adverse effects that critics have claimed.

Paradise Lost SG

I get your point. But should a Minimum wage policy be implemented, how low a level has it to go before it looses its effectiveness that it ought to bring in the very first place?

And even if the lowest possible minimum wage rate policy were to be implemented, there is absolutely no guarantee that it won't be tweaked higher in the future should the domestic economical situation change.

I personally find it hard to believe that a minimum wage policy can be derived without having its Cons, given the ever-changing economical landscape that we are living in.

Im sure it does. However the initial corporate tax rate was implemented to match the competitive corporate tax rates in Hong Kong. In that sense, its to bring Singapore's competitiveness level on par with its nearest and strongest competitor.

An implementation of a minimum wage rate would effectively net off the existing corporate tax rate (as highlighted by yourself) and would also net off any grounds made to improve the competitiveness level arising from the initial corporate tax cut.

I agree. That is one of the Pros of having a Minimum wage rate policy.

reyes SG

i supported the minimum wage systems. this is use to protect mainly the lower skilled and income earners to allow them basic income for basic survival. however this policy wil the useless and infact disadvantage to the lower skilled and income gp unless the PAP change its policy over the influx of FTs.

robertteh SG

Another way is to pass twenty percents of CEO's monthly salaries above-$200K salaries down the line to be more equitably shared among the production and lower workers paid below $800 pm.

Ministers can start doing so to set an example.

walesa SG

This statement "Discounting all political agenda and focusing purely on the economical Pros and Cons of having a minimum wage policy" of yours makes little sense - economic policies never stand alone without political agenda and legislations. It's as sensible as someone wanting to learn to swim without having need to get wet.

Top 10 of what? Quite simply, there isn't a country (including independently-administered territories like Hong Kong) with a higher GDP per capita than this regime which has a higher proportion of foreigners (expressed in relation to its overall population).