The minimum wage should not be raised to$9.00 as campaigned for by the President.

Thank you very much for your argument. My opponent makes his case by saying, "study after study has shown that raising the minimum wage does not have a negative effect on employment." This is simply a falsehood. Many reputable sources have found the disastrous effects of raising the minimum wage that I presented in round 2. I will show a few here: 1. A study done by the Southern Economic Journal, under economists Joseph Sabia and Richard Burkhauser, found that raising the minimum wage has absolutely no positive effect on poverty. "When we then simulate the effects of a proposed federal minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $9.50 per hour, we find that such an increase will be even more poorly targeted to the working poor than was the last federal increase from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour" (1) This study found no change in poverty, one of the studies more favorable to my opponent's side. Many find quite the opposite of what he claims. 2. A study by renowned economist David Neumark shows that a minimum wage hike actively kills jobs. "Minimum-wage leg- islation will increase wages at the cost of modest but significant reductions in employment". (2) Neumark did not elaborate on whether the unemployment out-weighed the wage gains, but it does not matter. Even if raising the minimum wage had no effects on poverty whatsoever, that implies what this study does; that some people are getting paid more, while other are laid off. This supports my argument, because while minimum wage employees may struggle to get by, they are much better off then those without jobs. (See "True Poverty", Round Two) 3. A third study, reported by the Daily Caller, report a University of Massachusetts study, led by Professor Bob Pollin, finds the same. He says "[Minimum wage] not a cure-all to poverty. In fact, the biggest source of low-income poverty is that people don't have jobs at all." (3) The study also finds "no statistically significant evidence that a higher minimum wage helped reduce hardship" Indeed, despite my opponent's claims, studies almost invariably show either no or a negative effect due to the hiking of the minimum wage. My opponent says of Republicans expectations of the minimum wage, "But such dire predictions have never materialized". However, history shows they have. 63% of states with minimum wage above the national average are suffering unemployment above the national average. (4) As reported by the Wall Street Journal, 300,00 unskilled teen workers lost their jobs following the 2008 minimum wage hike. (5) And check out this chart, comparing Alaska's economic growth after the recession, before and after the minimum wage hike: http://www.epi.org... As you can see, Alaska's post-recession job growth was phenomenal compared to the rest of the country, until the minimum wage hike, where a noticeable difference in growth is perceived, where growth should have been accelerating as the recession grew farther away. My opponent cites the "multiplier" effect, which states that the additional money workers would get from a minimum wage increase would be used to grow other business. This, of course, is a roundabout effect. The same money is stunting job growth and leading to layoffs. WIthout the hike, money is already in the hands of job-makers. In conclusion, raising the minimum wage kills jobs, and does not in any overall way reduce poverty. Getting paid 7,25 an hour may be tough, but getting paid absolutely nothing is a whole lot worse. I look forward to my opponent's next argument. (1) http://www.people.vcu.edu... (2) http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu...- (3) http://dailycaller.com... (4) http://reason.com... (5) http://online.wsj.com...