Fall Into the GAP
Somewhere in a box I have a GAP store credit card. I haven’t used it in years. However, I just might have to go look for it. You see the GAP has raised the minimum wage for its employees to $10 an hour.
I know what you are thinking, “Abdul, you are not a fan of increasing the minimum wage.” No, I am not a fan of government mandated increases in the minimum wage. What the GAP did is what I believe in, private sector employers making the decision to increase the wages of their employees.
It’s one thing to increase the minimum wage in a booming economy, but in an economy like ours, such mandates are just asking for trouble.
We have already seen the Congressional Budget Office report that has said raising the minimum wage would cost 500,000 jobs and hurt the very people that progressives allegedly are trying to help.
If an employer can figure out a way to pay his or her employees more without hurting the bottom then they should be applauded. However, that increase in hourly wages will have to come from somewhere. So the GAP has decided it will either raise its prices, cut back hours or scale back profits for its shareholders. Regardless, it is the GAP’s decision to make and not one that should be forced on it by the government.
Regardless, I have to give the GAP credit for taking the initiative, now I have to go figure out where I put that card. It’s probably in the same place where I keep my Starbucks gift cards.
