March 31, 2008
Spring Springing, TTC Talking, Wages Wising
Get your bathing suits out people—spring may finally be here, with the temperature expected to hit 9° today and a sub-tropical 15° tomorrow. (Disclaimer: the phrase "get your bathing suits out" is not intended to recommend or endorse the practice of swimming in Lake Ontario. Residents should always consult with their toxicologist before bathing at beaches in or around the GTA.)
Minimum wage in Ontario is going up from $8.00 an hour to $8.75 today. Economists have expressed concern that the move could result in job losses in a weak economy, but it's still great news for Torontoist staffers holding down day jobs, most of whom will benefit from the increase.
There won't be a TTC strike tomorrow, anyway. The unions that will be in a legal position to strike at midnight tonight have both agreed to give at least 48-hours notice before undertaking any job action. Make sure to be pathetically grateful to the surly lout who takes your fare this morning.
Police have arrested a man accused of taking voyeuristic pictures of women at the Eaton Centre. According to the report, the man would approach his unsuspecting targets and discreetly position his cell phone camera to take up-skirt pictures. Discreetly? Really? Is he invisible?
In Canada's other national game played on ice, the women's national curling team yesterday beat China 7–4 to take the world championship. Congrats to them, and special thanks to anyone who can explain to me any or all of the following paragraph: "Playing without the hammer, Jones defended well from the start. After Wang played her first shot around her own guard but rolled a shade too far, Jones sent her final shot into the rings to protect Canada's shot stone. That forced Wang to draw to the button for one."
Photo by edit felix.
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The "hammer" is the advantage of the last stone in an end. Tavern shuffleboard uses the same term.
Guard is a stone that is outside the circles and serves as a forward guard for any future counting stones (those that enter the rings).
The stone that goes too far has gone past the centre of the circles and can be swept away by the opposing team.
The shot stone is a stone that counts for purposes of scoring. The stone closest to the centre is "shot". Any others of the same colour further out and not intercalated by stones of the other team also count. The first stone of the other team stops the counting up.
Sorry this showed up in two parts. Something happened beyond my control.
Maybe you can find a curler to show you with an electronic curling game or one on a computer the scoring.
Hope this little bit helps.
15 degrees tomorrow?! Hooray!
If only those of us making minimum wage (or close to it) could vote to increase our own wages, like Ontario's MPPs:
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2008/03/30/5142391-sun.html
We get a whopping nine per cent increase on diddly-squat, while their already decent salary increases by more than a quarter in less than two years.
As someone who was making it four years ago, I think it's pretty great that minimum wage is rising (and is continuing to rise—to $10.25 by 2010). For a kid just getting into the working world, that's damn good money, and while it's not exactly fantastic for an adult working full-time, it's a hell of a lot better than what minimum wage was when I was making it, $7.45.
Why is it when people are paid more it's a threat to the economy, but when taxes are cut to "keep more of your money in your pocket [instead of going to vital social infrastructure]" it's a good thing?
It's because economics is frequently used like treknobabble.
Why is it when people are paid more it's a threat to the economy, but when taxes are cut to "keep more of your money in your pocket [instead of going to vital social infrastructure]" it's a good thing?
Tax cuts leave more money in the hands of the private sector, which generates wealth. Governments provide public goods, but must fund them with privately-generated wealth. Tax receipts are dependent on the economic health of the private sector. Tax cuts may help improve that health. [no argument about what the ideal level should be]
Increasing the minimum wage may reduce the amount of employment at the low-end (to keep wages costs the same), or may increase costs/prices if all wage increases are passed along to consumers to any extent. While you can debate whether these are threats, they are not positive economic events.
These two are not really as related as you suggest.
Are you talking about business tax cuts or personal income tax cuts?
the minimum wage in Celtic Tiger Ireland is $13.89 (Eur8.65)
I don't think the type of tax cut is important to the point - its just that leaving more money in the private sector generally may be a good thing as it is the source of the wealth that provides tax dollars. Ultimately, all tax is paid by individuals, but that's another topic. The actual structure of the tax system (rates, payers, credits, etc) is certainly important and can affect receipts, job growth etc, but the point was, initially, that mandated (gross) wages and actual (net) disposable income are not two sides of the same coin that can be compared when assessing arguments about economic policy.
(On Ireland, it seems the tiger is getting tired, and there has been talk about wage restraint: http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/frontpage/2007/1220/1197997070745.html)