Senator Elizabeth Warren thinks that if minimum wage had kept up with productivity, it would currently be at least $22 per hour. She spoke to a senate hearing, stating that minimum wage would be about three times what it is now. In a March 18 report by the Huffington Post, Elizabeth Warren thinks minimum wage could be as high as $33 per hour.
All of Elizabeth Warren's numbers were based on productivity. Productivity has risen considerably since 1960, the year she chose to start her figures, and that if minimum wage had kept up, it would be much higher than it is now.
“I'm sure her numbers look good on paper, but I doubt if it would really work that way,” Mac Hunter, from Oklahoma City, said. “If minimum wage had kept rising, I don't think productivity would have. The money a business makes is invested in more than just payroll. I don't know if companies could have been able to afford all of the additional overhead and productivity would have slowed down because of it.”
Elizabeth Warren appeared to be using the $22 per hour minimum wage as a way to convince other legislatures to support raising minimum wage to more than $10 an hour over the next two years. With minimum wage only being $7.25 now, it would only be an increase of $2.75 an hour.
Despite the high numbers, it doesn't appear that Elizabeth Warren is wanting minimum wage to be increased to $22 per hour. She would be happy to see minimum wage go up the $2.75 per hour, making minimum wage $10.
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