In Nov. 2016, a bill deciding what the minimum wage should be set at was voted on by the American people. In Arizona, before the election, the minimum wage was $8.05. In Jan. 2017, it was increased to ten dollars, $10.50 in 2018, $11 in 2019, and $12 in 2020. That is a lot of money, so yay right?

Contrary to popular belief, it is not yay. Raising the minimum wage would do more harm than good. Sure, a worker receives more money because of the minimum wage being increased, but what happens to the rest of the economy?

By raising the amount at which an employer must pay their employees, the price of goods must also go up because the employers will not have enough money to pay for the services. By raising the prices of goods, consumers will not want to buy more of that product.

By having less consumers buying less goods, the employers will not be able to afford as many employees so they will be fired, resulting in less workers. By having less workers, the workers still there will have to work double in order to make up for the lack of workers.

All in all, as a worker, you will not get as much money as you thought you were getting. It’s all about the economics. Small businesses have been going out of business because they can no longer afford workers. Workers are being fired left and right because their places of work can no longer afford them.

It cannot be stressed enough that the minimum wage increase did not help, but instead hurt. It does not help that the inflation rate is so high and that the dollar has lost 99 percent of its value. It is because of this, that everything, including college, is so expensive. But by increasing the minimum wage, it gets harder for consumers to buy products, which will not help the economy.

So how can this be fixed? Honestly, it cannot. The law is the law and the only way to change this law would be to make a new law, which is not as easy as it seems. The economy will fix itself, however, without government intervention.

Minimum wage jobs are not here for people to live off of the minimum wage. The minimum wage is for young people who are first starting off in the workplace. It was never made to be lived off of as a career. It is a job, not a career. There is a difference.

If we did not dip our fingers into the economic pies, then we would not of had this problem. Maybe next time, we should just be happy with what we have, instead of asking for more.