Reference no: EM132210276

Question: Raising the minimum wage has become a national, state and municipal focus this past year.

CH 4 of your text (Demand & Supply Applications) addresses the conventional economic thought on p 86: "the most common example of a price floor is the minimum wage. Critics argue that since the minimum wage is above the equilibrium, the result is unemployment. Whenever a price floor is set above equilibrium, there will be an excess supply."

But compare this to the reality of the increasing disparity of pay between those at the top and the average worker. From a Fortune magazine article: "Between 1978 and 2014, inflation-adjusted CEO pay increased by almost 1,000%, according to a report released on Sunday by the Economic Policy Institute. Meanwhile, typical workers in the U.S. saw a pay raise of just 11% during that period.

With these increases in mind, it should come as no surprise that the ratio between average American CEO pay and worker pay is now 303-to- 1. This ratio is lower than its peak in 2000, when it was 376-to- 1, but it's in excess of the 1965 ratio of 20-to 1. The stark differences are made concrete when translated into dollars and cents. In 1965, CEOs earned an average of $832,000 annually compared to $40,200 for workers. In 2014, CEO pay had risen to an average of $16,316,000 compared to only $53,200 for workers."

For the Discussion Board this week please search the internet for credible presentations by economists who favor increasing the minimum wage and also, from those who oppose a minimum wage. The disparity in income and perceived opportunity is one of the hot button issues of the recent presidential campaign. Dig deep. Take and defend a position.