Is cutting salaries a good thing in a recession?

[Visarion]

a Romanian electrican from the national tv channel jumped in the head at the People's Pallace during a meeting of our elected diplomats because they wanted to keep cutting our sallaries and harden our lifes by blindly voting what the corporations want: all work and no life! It is a shame that we let this multinational corporations enter our territory instead of having our own. Our spirit is dying. We were loving and gentle people that carred for the suffering of others now we are made of stone like those speculants that want more and more and always try to bankrupt small countries not thinking that many will suffer because their currency is affected! Europe is in a crysis. Banks have taken all and want more. We must be united and don't forget to feel. We must keep our souls warm and be patriots. The state is the people! The state must care for it's people too not only for corporations and international organisations. Just wanted to share some thoughts with you.

I personaly think that cutting salaries is a bad thing for both people and enterprises... By the way Romania had increased the "added value tax" from 19% to 24% wich affects both firms and people! I think that it was a bold but good measure but now they can give the 25% taken from salaries back to the people... what do you think? what should be done?

[Thorn777]

Its the symptoms of the increasingly sick capitalist system we have. Your damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[Ahlerich]

cutting salaries - not so good
let people work 75% and pay them only 75% is a good thing if its limited to the time the company is really in trouble. 75% salary and more freetime is still better then beeing unemployed

[Col. Tartleton]

The greatest danger is raising pay with inflated fiat.

[B5C]

In the United States, there are some who want to remove the mim-wage because it hurts business. Also they believe that workers should be paid less.

According too libertarians. Employees should compete with lower wages to find a job:
http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/ec...n-retreat.html

[xcorps]

I don't think you understood the article you linked to. It wasn't saying that minimum wage hurt business, it was saying it hurt people.

[B5C]

I don't think you understood the article you linked to. It wasn't saying that minimum wage hurt business, it was saying it hurt people.

Yet it hurts business because they are forced to pay people good wages. It would be better for businesses to try to get employees to work 10 cents an hour!

[xcorps]

Yet it hurts business because they are forced to pay people good wages. It would be better for businesses to try to get employees to work 10 cents an hour!

You might be the only person I've ever heard describe minimum wage as "good wages".

If your standard of good wages is that low, it explains a lot of your rhetoric.

[B5C]

You might be the only person I've ever heard describe minimum wage as "good wages".

If your standard of good wages is that low, it explains a lot of your rhetoric.

I good wage to survive. Heck 8.55 an hour is still not enough to pay rent. You want me to have lesser pay?

[Enemy of the State]

Yet it hurts business because they are forced to pay people good wages. It would be better for businesses to try to get employees to work 10 cents an hour!

It hurts both. A minimum wage means businesses will hire less workers and only the most qualified. Unskilled labor is being royally screwed over by a minimum wage. Most people work for far above the minimum wage so it does not effect them. But there are so many people in poverty with no means to get themselves out. They cant get a job so they have to life off of welfare.

It's absolutely shocking how many people don't understand the true effects of the minimum wage. Lets raise the minimum wage to 10 trillion dollars, we can all be rich!

[Claudius Gothicus]

Nope. It deepens the recessive process by sinking demand.

[harden007]

You can either employ 10 people at $10/hr or 12 people at 8$/hr. Cutting pay could cut layoffs.

[Stario]

You can either employ 10 people at $10/hr or 12 people at 8$/hr. Cutting pay could cut layoffs.

Cutting pay is bad for morale. Problem could even get worse if your most skilled workers leave. When you lay off people you take less of a morale hit as typically the layed-off person(s) aren't going to be around, plus you get to keep your most skilled workers.

[Platon]

At least the Romanians now have the freedom of choice - work for slave wages or starve to death. Capitalism rules!!

[Denny Crane!]

Anything in the fiat system is a symptom of the problem. But ultimately I think people need to be flexible in their time and how much they get paid for that time. The flexibility in peoples abilities to take pay cuts or work less has saved tens of thousands of jobs in the UK and is hailed as being a very strong economic factor that helped our economy.

I wouldn't want to have to take a pay cut but as someone losing a job in this recession I'd take a 10% pay cut to keep my job because there is damn all else.

[xcorps]

Denny, would you take a 10% paycut for someone else to keep their job? (just curious)

[Denny Crane!]

Denny, would you take a 10% paycut for someone else to keep their job? (just curious)

We are a team of 18, if they said they would fire half of us or keep all of us on at a 10% pay cut then yes I'd take it.

[B5C]

We are a team of 18, if they said they would fire half of us or keep all of us on at a 10% pay cut then yes I'd take it.

Do do like an Iron works did in Seattle. Just don't make a profit. Use all the profits to pay the employees and the owner cut some of his pay.

There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible. - Henry Ford

[Denny Crane!]

Do do like an Iron works did in Seattle. Just don't make a profit. Use all the profits to pay the employees and the owner cut some of his pay.

That would be fine except we work on a contract for a multinational firm, that won't be happening and if it meant I and my colleagues could keep our jobs instead of going on the dole I'd take it.

Oh and to chime in on another point, I do believe minimum wage causes inflation in all sorts of areas and doesn't help the poorest in society and definitely not the people on welfare. It causes wage inflation for people which helps cause RPI inflation and house price amongst other things. Not the sole cause but I don't think it helps poor people.

[B5C]

That would be fine except we work on a contract for a multinational firm, that won't be happening and if it meant I and my colleagues could keep our jobs instead of going on the dole I'd take it.

Oh and to chime in on another point, I do believe minimum wage causes inflation in all sorts of areas and doesn't help the poorest in society and definitely not the people on welfare. It causes wage inflation for people which helps cause RPI inflation and house price amongst other things. Not the sole cause but I don't think it helps poor people.

8.55 an hour is much better than 5 bucks an hour. Also I believe mim wage should be raised and lowered based on inflation.