Minimum Wage and Inequality

One topic that is an interest of mine is the topic of growing income inequality. Over the last 30 years or so, a small fraction of the population in the US has increased its share of income (and even more wealth) while the middle class has been gradually gutted and those on the bottom have been stepped on. Ultimately I don't think it's a sustainable situation and something needs to be done to address those issues.

Today I want to look at a hot topic in politics: the minimum wage. President Barrack Obama has been pushing an increase of the Federal minimum wage to $10.10. And there's plenty of resistance to that but I don't want to focus on that too much. We can really consider two issues:

(1) Is raising the Federal minimum wage a good way to alleviate income inequality?
(2) Assuming (1), where should the Federal minimum wage be?

It's the latter question I'd like to take a look at today.

Return on Invested Time: Developing Understanding

Time is our most valuable possession; and, yet, we trade it for other things.

One thing I noticed relatively early on is my ability to process information better than others. I don't know to what extent this is genetic or learned but I do think part of it comes down to how I engage information.

Many tasks in my early education experience I considered to be pointless or a waste of time. While I jokingly referred to myself as a slacker, to some extent it was deliberate in that I saw some activities as being unproductive and would rather spend my time doing activities either more enjoyable or more productive.

In hindsight, I think I may have misjudged in some cases but in many cases my approach has been successful. Here's a look at my overall approach.