Seattle liberals don’t know a whole lot about basic economics. As Seattle celebrity chef and James Beard Award winner Tom Douglas said when city officials began pushing the $15 minimum wage, “It is also not lost on me that our City Council and Mayor’s office have very little small business experience.”
The problem is (again, in Douglas’ words) the cost of their failure is ours, the taxpayers.
Well, it appears that Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is, once again, intent on proving Douglas right — he knows next to nothing about basic economics.
Murray recently rolled out his “Mayor’s Youth Employment Initiative” to encourage private businesses in Seattle to hire 4,000 young workers. Via the Washington Policy Center:
“The mayor’s program seeks to address the significant discrepancy between the city’s low general unemployment of 3.5% and the much higher 13% unemployment rate for teens and young adults (16-24 years old). And at a staggering 28%, the unemployment rate is alarmingly high for black youth looking for a job in the city. The mayor’s press announcement correctly notes that youth unemployment results in academic disengagement, lack of career awareness and planning, and poor preparedness for available careers. Nearly 70% of employers report graduates are deficient in critical thinking and problem solving skills essential to successful job performance.”
Unsurprisingly, Murray believes that government is the solution to the problems he identified. Apparently, he never stopped to consider the reality that it’s the policies he and his liberal friends imposed on the city that are part of the problem.
The city of Seattle is not a friendly environment for first-time job seekers. In fact, liberals like Murray have given businesses plenty of reasons to not hire young, inexperienced workers. The biggest reason is the $15 minimum wage law.
Opponents of the $15 minimum wage — those who own/understand small businesses — warned of the consequences of an absurdly high minimum wage. One of those consequences is the increased difficulty for young people to find their first jobs. As the Washington Policy Center points out:
“One of the biggest obstacles to young people trying to get their first job is their lack of skills and experience. Employers that hire young workers with no skills or experience must invest time and money into teaching those workers how to be productive employees. That investment is a gamble that doesn’t pencil out when employers must pay those workers an unreasonably high wage.”
Perhaps if Murray is looking for a solution for high youth unemployment, he should re-consider the policies he put into place that create an inhospitable employment environment. Of course, he won’t do that – because that would mean he’d have to admit ho doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Biff says
April 25, 2016 at 1:26 pmYou just can’t make this stuff up. Maybe the “Mayor’s Youth Employment Initiative” will recommend making the minimum wage $16/hr as a solution. It worked so well the last time.
tensor says
April 26, 2016 at 7:36 amSince the post doesn’t contain any numbers for youth unemployment prior to Seattle’s increase in our minimum wage, there’s no evidence for any claim connecting the two. Anyone who believes the premise of this post must therefore be risibly gullible enough to base his beliefs on absolutely nothing.
Oh, hi there, Biff! Fancy meeting you here! 🙂
Roger says
April 26, 2016 at 9:39 amwell, it was already more difficult for teens to find a job because of state laws saying how late they can work and all that B.S. So your comment makes no sense and maybe, just maybe, if you had any where-with-all you would have looked up the statistics and posted them in your comments. And in spite of all the laws and regulations see this article from the Seattle Times in 2014 for starters: http://www.seattletimes.com/business/teen-employment-rate-sharply-down-in-seattle-area-study-says/ PRE $15/hour law in Seattle. Or, how about this one? http://dailysignal.com/2015/01/06/young-workers-hurt-minimum-wage-hikes/ and that was with a simple search. Do everyone a favor and DO your homework before you spew off the MSM mantra.
tensor says
April 26, 2016 at 3:51 pm…if you had any where-with-all you would have looked up the statistics and posted them in your comments.
Um, why did the author of the post not do so? Shouldn’t you address this to him?
(Oh yeah, that’s right — anonymous poster, as usual. I wonder why no one takes responsibility for this material?)
We do see one statistic in the post: Seattle’s general unemployment rate is 3.5%. Our national unemployment rate is about 5%. Does anyone have any idea why liberal Seattle has such a strong economy?
Army Vet 4444 says
May 1, 2016 at 8:38 pmYou don’t need “statistics” or any other “professional” to explain to you how bad things have gotten in Seattle. All you have to do, is go looking for a restaurant in Seattle. A decent place to eat that cost less than $50.00/plate, and isn’t a drive through fast food mart, to see how much Seattle has changed. While you are looking around, take notice of all the “closed” restaurants wile you are at it. It’s NOT brain surgery. But it does prove it’s (the $15/hr) is a disaster.
tensor says
May 2, 2016 at 8:43 amUm, Seattle has one of the highest numbers of restaurants, per capita, in the country; we’re right behind San Francisco, which has the highest such concentration.
Also, Seattle’s unemployment rate is below the national and state averages, so our high minimum wage hasn’t cost us any jobs.
Good luck impeaching popular politicians who’ve done nothing wrong.
Jeff Brodhead says
April 26, 2016 at 1:32 amDang, can’t insert my H.U.A. Army photo. 🙁
MSG L says
April 26, 2016 at 6:57 amHey king county, you made your bed and you are stuck in it. The rest of Washington State is getting very very tired of your [email protected] We will not bail you out with OUR taxes. Overtax king county to pay for your screw up mr murry
Mike Ivy says
April 26, 2016 at 7:47 pmSeattle does not equal King County. I live in King County, but do not live in Seattle. This foolish minimum wage law was passed by the Seattle City Council.
Iflyfast says
May 1, 2016 at 11:21 amEast King is just as conservative as the rest of the state.
The commies are in Freattle, and unfortunately the population that votes like them too.
Dana Doran says
April 26, 2016 at 7:34 amWell, the liberals have just set the stage to …. what shall we call it, oh yeah, “subsidize” ….watch and see, remember that levy you just voted for to actually fix the potholes in Seattle? Well, if they “borrow” that money from SDOT, they could subsidize the hourly wage by paying businesses the difference between the value of those teenagers and the cost….like half the hourly wage….as encouragement to hire them. Hello potholes!
Army Vet 4444 says
May 1, 2016 at 8:32 pmMy children understand why the move to make minimum wage $15.00/Hr is a bad deal for everyone concerned. I fail to understand how people in significant roles, such as city counsel and mayor of a major city like Seattle COULD NOT figure the same thing out.
The fact that all of you are still in office is a testament to how complacent people have become. I live down in Olympia, but if I did live in King county, it would be my life’s mission right now to impeach every single member on the city counsel that voted for the 15/hr and the mayor. The economy in the USA and particularly in Washington state is bad enough, without having dumb asses like you guys making it worse.
nullSteph says
May 9, 2016 at 6:14 amHow can we build a firewall around Seattle to protect the rest of the state? Their wing nut ideas are already taking root in Kirkland.