Lots of discussion these days about raising “minimum wage.”  The complaint is that our economy can’t afford to pay hard-working people $15 an hour, even if we are one of the richest countries on earth.  Imagine poor people rushing around, trying to bring up their families on $13 per hour, sometimes speeding to two different part time jobs.  There are TOO many of these people, particularly those with single working parents.  Those children can’t even dream of any extras the rest take for granted: no internet, no cable vision, no school trips, no hockey, no music lessons. no parent at home.  The least we can do is raise the wages to $15 an hour,

Ah, the world of employers cry, but we can’t afford it.  They say they will have to fire other workers in order to pay this little increase.  They complain that a raise “won’t work.”

First of all consider the big employers, the big corporations, where they can still afford to pay lots of bonuses.  They have fake tears, poor things.

Then consider all the small businesses who say that can’t afford any increase in wages, it could destroy them.  That is probably true, but that means that they are almost destroyed anyway.  It won’t be wages that take them down.  Thousands of bankruptcies are declared every year, that means it’s a small business that didn’t make it.  Yes, I think that’s terrible.  In many cases, the little business owner is not even paying himself and his family minimum wage.

What is the definition of “small business?”  Is it ten workers, fifty workers, or what number.  I once heard that if the owner could name all the people that work for him, maybe even a thousand, that would be a small business.  In the sustainable New Economy, the small business will be the soul of every community.  They will be the closest to the heart of every consumer.  Good small business don’t need loyalty cards, they don’t need to advertise, their customers love them.  Yes, we must do everything possible to help small businesses, but not paying employees is not the answer.

Here are some suggestions that government could do with the stroke of a pen, if it were so inclined:

1. Every commercial building can set its own rate for rent.  However, the rent per square foot has to be exactly the same price for the big business and the small business.      Since when do we have to always give preference to the big guys.
2. Every producer  and wholesaler can set whatever price they want, but it has to be the same wholesale price for small orders as well as large orders.  They will scream at losing their privileges.  They will give you dozens of “reasons” why this will destroy the economy.     Yes, it will make the small business a lot stronger.  That’s what we want.  Go, small businesses!

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