• Latest

Guest Opinion: Fifteen Dollar Law is Bad Policy

April 23, 2018
African Queen (1951)

Exodus (1960)

March 21, 2023
Just Some Thoughts

“Don’t Worry”

March 21, 2023
Job Training Well Done

Job Training Well Done

March 21, 2023

ACLU, Partners Call on Legislators to Oppose Plans for Prison Expansion

March 21, 2023

Conservation Supports New Farm In Central Vermont

March 21, 2023

Vermont Hunter Education Courses

March 15, 2023

Vermont Philharmonic and Green Mountain Youth Symphony Present “Awakenings: Music of Young Composers”

March 15, 2023

Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA) Joins in Month-Long March for Meals Celebration with Communities Nationwide

March 15, 2023
African Queen (1951)

Divorce, Italian Style (1961)

March 15, 2023

Following Successful Public Pressure Campaign to Lower the Cost of Eli Lilly’s Insulin, Sanders and Bush Introduce Bill to Finish the Job and Cap the Price at $20 Per Vial

March 15, 2023
Udderly Crazy 4-H Club Members Take Part In 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl

Udderly Crazy 4-H Club Members Take Part In 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl

March 7, 2023
Hunger Free Vermont Receives $36,090 Nourishing Neighbors Grant from Shaw’s Foundation’s Nourishing Neighbor Campaign

Hunger Free Vermont Receives $36,090 Nourishing Neighbors Grant from Shaw’s Foundation’s Nourishing Neighbor Campaign

March 7, 2023
  • Home
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
Saturday, March 25, 2023
The World Online
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News & Features
    • Local News
    • Letters & opinions
    • George Shuman
    • Max’s View
    • Local Sports & Outdoors
    • Births
  • Calendar
    • Art Exhibits
    • Calendar of Events
    • Ongoing Events
  • Obituaries
  • Submit
    • Submit Calendar Listing for Non-Profit Events
    • Submit An Article To The World
    • Submit Letter To The Editor
    • Submit Sports News/Photo
    • Submit Birth Announcement
    • Submit Engagement Announcement
    • Submit Wedding Announcement
  • Advertising
    • World Rates and Ad Sizes
    • World Distribution Map
    • World Deadlines
    • Audit and Reader Surveys
    • Advertising Inquiry
  • Classifieds
    • Place Classified Ads
    • View Current Classifieds
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News & Features
    • Local News
    • Letters & opinions
    • George Shuman
    • Max’s View
    • Local Sports & Outdoors
    • Births
  • Calendar
    • Art Exhibits
    • Calendar of Events
    • Ongoing Events
  • Obituaries
  • Submit
    • Submit Calendar Listing for Non-Profit Events
    • Submit An Article To The World
    • Submit Letter To The Editor
    • Submit Sports News/Photo
    • Submit Birth Announcement
    • Submit Engagement Announcement
    • Submit Wedding Announcement
  • Advertising
    • World Rates and Ad Sizes
    • World Distribution Map
    • World Deadlines
    • Audit and Reader Surveys
    • Advertising Inquiry
  • Classifieds
    • Place Classified Ads
    • View Current Classifieds
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
The World Online
No Result
View All Result

Guest Opinion: Fifteen Dollar Law is Bad Policy

vt-world by vt-world
April 23, 2018
in Letters & opinions
0

By Scott Milne

As law, it will be detrimental to workers and society.

Henry Ford, speaking of the automobile, mass production, and all that was changing because of his life and work, allegedly quipped, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”.

The “fight for fifteen”—a precursor to Vermont’s fifteen dollar-law—popped up in the last presidential campaign, promoted by many political elites, special interests, and former presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. They promise this is a faster horse, and with her, we will prosper and progress.

It would be great if it were so easy, but this legislation can do real harm. If it becomes law, valuable Vermont employers and most of Vermont’s most vulnerable businesses—and thousands of families—will suffer.

The “fight for fifteen” is the opposite of innovation. Rather than charting a tough course, this “fight” is a slogan-abled political maneuver that ducks the hard work and risk of crafting complex public policy that will actually help Vermonters.

For three reasons, among many, the fifteen dollar law is a bad idea:

1. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning: With higher labor costs, more workers will be replaced with AI powered machines and robots. Small businesses without capital or scale will lose business and market share to big businesses. Vermont jobs will vanish. Businesses will use AI and machine learning robots to beat competitors that are more reliant on people for labor. As employers who embrace AI win, more people will lose their jobs. Income gaps will stretch. Bigger businesses will become bigger and many smaller businesses will struggle.

The opportunity to know the dignity that comes with meaningful employment will disappear for many people and their families.

2. Costs will be passed on to consumers and taxpayers: Publicly funded organizations and regulated industries including utilities, hospitals and healthcare, schools, and governments will use the fifteen dollar law to justify larger budgets; living will become more expensive, especially for the poorest among us.

3. Blockchain Technology: Although it is sure to be a disruptor with lots of unknowns, blockchain has the real potential to re-order our society and economy in a way not seen since the times of Henry Ford. We need leaders and public policy focused on the future in order to nurture its great possibilities. We need innovative leadership—the sort that been sorely missing for American workers displaced by globalization—to craft smart policy as we become the future.

It is possible, and perhaps even inevitable, that blockchain and the new technologies being built on it will render many millions of American jobs obsolete.

Concurrently, blockchain has the potential to usher in a new era of unprecedented egalitarianism and freedom. We need government and its political leaders to focus attention and resources on where America is going.

Minimum wage legislation is an eighty year old horse. At best, the “fight for fifteen” is a distraction. Big business, regulated industries, and the special interests that prop them all up will win. Workers, small businesses, many entrepreneurs, and the weakest among us will lose.

We need to invent a new way to prosper and progress together, a way that will provide financial stability and incentive outside our labor markets, outside our welfare system, and apart from the philosophy behind the social safety net that’s evolved over the past eighty years.

The path to progress will be lost if we accept that the best our government can do is offer us a marginally faster horse fueled with stale hay. We have to expect more.

Previous Post

Max’s Views: Chappaquiddick: ****

Next Post

Come Together: Beatles Tribute Band Toasts to the Tunes While Raising Awareness

Next Post

Come Together: Beatles Tribute Band Toasts to the Tunes While Raising Awareness

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This Week’s Ads

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
The World
403 US Route 302
Barre, VT 05641
Phone: (802) 479-2582

Copyright © 2019 The World Online. All Rights Reserved. Powered by CoolerAds.

No Result
View All Result
  • Art Exhibits
  • Audit and Reader Surveys
  • Births
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Daily Horoscope
  • Fall Guide
  • Food & Recipe
  • Home
  • Obituaries
  • Ongoing Events
  • Pay Your Bill Here
  • Senior Living Edition
  • Showtimes
  • Submit Birth Announcement
  • Submit Calendar Listing for Non-Profit Events
  • Submit Engagement Announcement
  • Submit Listing to our Local Directory
  • Submit Sports News/Photo
  • Submit Wedding Announcement
  • Testimonials
  • The World Coupons
  • Weather Forecast
  • World Deadlines
  • World Distribution Map
  • World Rate Card
  • World Rates and Ad Sizes
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
  • About Us
  • Vermont Lottery
  • Advertising Information
  • The World Staff
  • Advertising Inquiry
  • Submit Letter To The Editor
  • Local Directory
  • Poll Results
  • Local Deals
  • Classifieds
  • Submit An Article To The World
  • Events
  • The World – This Week’s Online Digital Edition
  • The World Auto & Sports

Copyright © 2019 The World Online. All Rights Reserved. Powered by CoolerAds.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In