Raising the minimum wage hurts the economy

BOPI agree, but my opponents no evidence is false, if you are interested in long studies (like 300 of them) see here. http://web.archive.org...Defending C1 and 2My opponents main claim here is it is irrelevant, as these subgroups pose no overall proofs to pro (me). But, this argument is false, as teenagers are a large force in the labor market. [1] Now, this is common sense. The majority of McDonalds workers are teenagers, if you go to any local supermarket you see mainly young workers. My opponents minority argument fails, as teenagers are a vital unit of the overall economy, and are indeed a large section in the workforce. My opponent then claims I yet to make a link, which is false as I mainly spent time working on creating economic theory as well as brute statistics showing a link. Minimum wage increases lead to 46% decreases in teenage employment, historically, and have no benefit and actually detriment minorities. [2] Then claims most workers are not teenagers, but this is not the case, as 27%, a large chunk, are teenagers, and young adults are 19%. [3] These large groups, although not the majority, are a large portion of the minimum wage group. Also, even if it is only a small portion, we can use them to gauge overall public attributes. A poll, for example, only polls 1000 people, yet are used to show overall opinion. Using similar data means we can use teenagers to some effect on the minimum wage. Also, as stated, a large industry, fast food, relies on teenagers. A bump in the minimum wage hurts this large industry, the fast food industry is harmed by increased wages and generally lay off teenagers and minorities. It has negative effects. [4]===============================N1: Minimum wages are historically lowMy opponent essentially says increasing income is good, and the minimum wage raises income, and having inequality is bad. Well, he forgets multiple things. First, economic theory shows if you are hired for 8$ an hour, having a minimum wage of 4$ an hour will not effect your wage, basically saying people are not payed based on minimum wages rather how hard they work etc. So, having a lower minimum wage means we would have NO change in incomes for the employed people, and incomes would increase because the people making 0$ would now get 3$. Now, even if economic theory highly proven is false, we must also is his wage worth the downsides of the unemployed people? Lets assume it raises wages, but as stated it is almost economic fact raises in the minimum wage harm employment. [2] So, before we can disprove my argument, even if I fail, my opponent must prove the added wages have more of a benefit then the unemployed workers, in other words, is the costed job to him worth the extra cent to him?Also lower wages mean lower unemployment, for teens and overall. I will provide a graph for teens only, as when I post two graphs I get the annoying internal error thing:http://web.archive.org... N2: Does not hurt job lossMy opponent uses the correlation causation, yet this is ignorant to say in this situation. Years of economic thought, years of correlation, years of proof, with the evidence provided most economists concur higher wages hurt the overall unemployment outlook. My opponent then cites one of the VERY FEW studies showing an increase has no effect, one of the only studies I have seen that shows this, other then the famed Kruger study. But, this will likely face similar criticisms, as these studies that come up rarely can be mimicked in other studies, they may use everything the same and then not be able to replicate the other results. This happens to most minimum wage studies that show the results my opponent claims. [5]"Economists have studied the job-destroying features of a higher minimum wage. Estimates of the job losses of raising the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15 have ranged from 625,000 to 100,000 lost jobs. It is important to recognize that the jobs lost are mainly entry-level jobs. By destroying entry-level jobs, a higher minimum wage harms the lifetime earnings prospects of low-skilled workers. " [5] My opponent then gathers evidence saying it does not account for other factors. This is a falsity, as the studies I have read make many dummy variables and other such attempts to try to curve that possibility economic problems occur. Now, with correlations such as these, [5] it is unlikely another factor happens every time a wage increases, as any increase shows jobs being destroyed, so it is statistically almost impossible very time the wage raises a factor decides to jump in every time to hurt employment. Also, the wage raises almost always hurt low skilled workers. [6]N3: boosts the economy Now this does ignore other factors, as lets take an example, California has high minimum wage and a big economy. But this comparison on states ignores many things:Tourism Places of interest populationUrbanization Nature (oceans attract tourism etc)Other lawsetc.A place like New Mexico is deficient in most of those things, and California pockets are bulging in them. Minor comparisons like the one you place are faulty as the TRULY ignore other variables. Midwestern areas and Ohio have different economies and different statistics that have variables, I doubt the statistics my opponent is using are using dummy variables etc. State and regional comparisons, to be blunt, are inaccurate statistically. My opponent then claims firstly there would be no effect with a higher minimum wage, which is contrary to most economic belief. Now, my opponents argument makes no logical sense. Higher minimum wage causes higher cost to the company if they choose to keep hiring the low skilled workers, and actually mandate many harmful things. Now, if you have a company worth one million, the minimum wage robs you 400k, your company wont grow, and will have to lay off workers to make ends meet most likely. This basic economic theory proves raising the minimum wage is bad. [7] Then my opponent cites evidence in Indonesia showing more minimum wages make an equilibrium. but a US study:"A new study from labor economist Dr. Joseph J. Sabia (United States Military Academy at West Point) suggests that increases in the minimum wage have a negligible effect of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the overall economy--and can actually have a negative effect on the GDP generated by certain low-skilled industries......... Facts are stubborn things, and the reduction in employment that follows increases to the minimum wage is one of the most stubborn. No matter how activists wish to spin it, increasing the cost of labor decreases the demand for that labor. It’s ECON 101. " [8]CONCLUSION: Basically see my last quote about econ 101, so vote con :D[1] http://www.bos.frb.org... [2] Welch, Finis, and Cunningham, James. 1978. "Effects of Minimum Wages on the Level and Age Composition of Youth Employment." Review of Economics and Statistics[3] http://aspe.hhs.gov...[4] Van Giezen, Robert W. 1994. "Occupational Wages in the Fast-Food Industry." Monthly Labor Review[5] http://web.archive.org...[6] http://www.youtube.com... (above)[7] http://archive.newsmax.com... [8] http://epionline.org...