Ayala 1
Destiny Ayala
Due: 24 Sep. – 4 Oct. 2019
Essentials of Economics
ECON 103 S – 05
Professor Ravi Samitimana
Paper #1: Minimum Wage
Ayala 2
Growing up in New York children see how their parents have to work multiple jobs in
order to pay living expenses and put food on the table. Many parents tend to struggle, bouncing
from one minimum wage job to the next. Even parents who are paid a good salary, still struggle
to survive in what others call “the city of dreams.” New York State minimum wage was seven
dollars, then rose to nine dollars, the thirteen dollars. Now as of 2019 the government rose
minimum wage in New York State to fifteen dollars per hour. What are the pros and cons of
raising minimum wage? What is the effect of minimum wage on employment and
unemployment?
Debate among labor economists on the pros and cons of a minimum wage law has come
to focus on whether labor markets are competitive or monopolistic. Using principles and
concepts of institutional economics, many argue that this perspective on minimum wages is too
