How was the 1990s U.S. economy so good when the minimum wage was $5.15?

[Suburbia]

How was there such peace and prosperity in 1999 and 2000 in America when the minimum wage around this time was $5.15?

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/business/us-minimum-wage-by-year/index.html

[HillGoose]

maybe it wasn't good maybe the man was just telling everybody it was

[If my soul was made of stone]

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

[dead0man]

How was there such peace and prosperity in 1999 and 2000 in America when the minimum wage around this time was $5.15?

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/business/us-minimum-wage-by-year/index.html

AND way more Americans actually made minimum wage than today where basically no one does.  People are just more whingey today.

[H. Ross Peron]

How was there such peace and prosperity in 1999 and 2000 in America when the minimum wage around this time was $5.15?

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/business/us-minimum-wage-by-year/index.html

AND way more Americans actually made minimum wage than today where basically no one does.  People are just more whingey today.

Or maybe people just have some expectations now that the heady promises of Nineties End of History and neoliberal capitalism have proven to be a chimera.

[dead0man]

How was there such peace and prosperity in 1999 and 2000 in America when the minimum wage around this time was $5.15?

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/business/us-minimum-wage-by-year/index.html

AND way more Americans actually made minimum wage than today where basically no one does.  People are just more whingey today.

Or maybe people just have some expectations now that the heady promises of Nineties End of History and neoliberal capitalism have proven to be a chimera.

your argument is that people believed some nonsense in the 90s and now their expectations are too high?  Despite life for nearly everyone being much better than then?  Seems illogical to me.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Because very few people actually make the federal minimum wage.  It's less than 1/100th of 1% of the population.  Partly that's because many states have higher minimum wages.  But it's also because there aren't actually that many jobs paying the absolute minimum wage.  This was as true in the 90s as it is today.

There are, however, a large set of jobs paying $10-15/hr, mostly the jobs you imagine when you think of bottom-tier jobs (restaurants, hotels, cleaning, rural/agricultural work, commission-based jobs).

[Ancestral Republican]

Because very few people actually make the federal minimum wage.  It's less than 1/100th of 1% of the population.  

This is patent nonsense.

And even if it was true, $8 instead of $7.25 is not livable.

[Ancestral Republican]

How was there such peace and prosperity in 1999 and 2000 in America when the minimum wage around this time was $5.15?

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/business/us-minimum-wage-by-year/index.html

AND way more Americans actually made minimum wage than today where basically no one does.  People are just more whingey today.

Or maybe people just have some expectations now that the heady promises of Nineties End of History and neoliberal capitalism have proven to be a chimera.

your argument is that people believed some nonsense in the 90s and now their expectations are too high?  Despite life for nearly everyone being much better than then?  Seems illogical to me.

I wonder why the military welfare program and associated jobs keep getting pay increases when the minimum wage is so livable. They should stop "whinging."

[Fight for Trump]

How was there such peace and prosperity in 1999 and 2000 in America when the minimum wage around this time was $5.15?

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/business/us-minimum-wage-by-year/index.html

AND way more Americans actually made minimum wage than today where basically no one does.  People are just more whingey today.

Or maybe people just have some expectations now that the heady promises of Nineties End of History and neoliberal capitalism have proven to be a chimera.

your argument is that people believed some nonsense in the 90s and now their expectations are too high?  Despite life for nearly everyone being much better than then?  Seems illogical to me.

I wonder why the military welfare program and associated jobs keep getting pay increases when the minimum wage is so livable. They should stop "whinging."

Yes, why should people who have to spend long stretches of time away from their family and friends, adhere to professional standards that are in some cases stricter than regulated professions, and may be called upon to risk their lives in case of war, be paid more than minimum wage...

[Ancestral Republican]

How was there such peace and prosperity in 1999 and 2000 in America when the minimum wage around this time was $5.15?

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/business/us-minimum-wage-by-year/index.html

AND way more Americans actually made minimum wage than today where basically no one does.  People are just more whingey today.

Or maybe people just have some expectations now that the heady promises of Nineties End of History and neoliberal capitalism have proven to be a chimera.

your argument is that people believed some nonsense in the 90s and now their expectations are too high?  Despite life for nearly everyone being much better than then?  Seems illogical to me.

I wonder why the military welfare program and associated jobs keep getting pay increases when the minimum wage is so livable. They should stop "whinging."

Yes, why should people who have to spend long stretches of time away from their family and friends, adhere to professional standards that are in some cases stricter than regulated professions, and may be called upon to risk their lives in case of war, be paid more than minimum wage...

LOL. Besides, they are compensated in numerous other ways in addition to salary. Those should be cut as well, but the sticker price for a military member is never what we're actually on the hook for.

It's simply a mental exercise. There's a reason they've been continuously getting pay increases, and that's the cost of living. Americans at large should be getting pay increases too, for the same reason.

[Fight for Trump]

How was there such peace and prosperity in 1999 and 2000 in America when the minimum wage around this time was $5.15?

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/business/us-minimum-wage-by-year/index.html

AND way more Americans actually made minimum wage than today where basically no one does.  People are just more whingey today.

Or maybe people just have some expectations now that the heady promises of Nineties End of History and neoliberal capitalism have proven to be a chimera.

your argument is that people believed some nonsense in the 90s and now their expectations are too high?  Despite life for nearly everyone being much better than then?  Seems illogical to me.

I wonder why the military welfare program and associated jobs keep getting pay increases when the minimum wage is so livable. They should stop "whinging."

Yes, why should people who have to spend long stretches of time away from their family and friends, adhere to professional standards that are in some cases stricter than regulated professions, and may be called upon to risk their lives in case of war, be paid more than minimum wage...

LOL. Besides, they are compensated in numerous other ways in addition to salary. Those should be cut as well, but the sticker price for a military member is never what we're actually on the hook for.

It's simply a mental exercise. There's a reason they've been continuously getting pay increases, and that's the cost of living. Americans at large should be getting pay increases too, for the same reason.

They are. Certainly in government, and in the vast majority of the private sector, too.

The "problem" is that the gains are weighted towards skilled workers, and disproportionately high inflation in education, and housing in a few markets.

[Ancestral Republican]

How was there such peace and prosperity in 1999 and 2000 in America when the minimum wage around this time was $5.15?

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/business/us-minimum-wage-by-year/index.html

AND way more Americans actually made minimum wage than today where basically no one does.  People are just more whingey today.

Or maybe people just have some expectations now that the heady promises of Nineties End of History and neoliberal capitalism have proven to be a chimera.

your argument is that people believed some nonsense in the 90s and now their expectations are too high?  Despite life for nearly everyone being much better than then?  Seems illogical to me.

I wonder why the military welfare program and associated jobs keep getting pay increases when the minimum wage is so livable. They should stop "whinging."

Yes, why should people who have to spend long stretches of time away from their family and friends, adhere to professional standards that are in some cases stricter than regulated professions, and may be called upon to risk their lives in case of war, be paid more than minimum wage...

LOL. Besides, they are compensated in numerous other ways in addition to salary. Those should be cut as well, but the sticker price for a military member is never what we're actually on the hook for.

It's simply a mental exercise. There's a reason they've been continuously getting pay increases, and that's the cost of living. Americans at large should be getting pay increases too, for the same reason.

They are. Certainly in government, and in the vast majority of the private sector, too.

Not to a degree that's proportionate to the income they've generated, or to the aforementioned taxpayer-funded vacationers.

The "problem"

K.

[Fight for Trump]

The "problem"

K.

... meaning, it is a complicated issue, driven by multiple factors that go way beyond "greedy capitalists". The economy changes, and some people inevitably get left behind. Recognizing that fact does not mean discarding those people.