Philosophy Paper second assignment (Two arguments and counterarguments)

For this 2nd assignment, you produce a two-page discussion. 

Below, I've colored two different sides of the minimum wage discussion. The red is my thesis,
The counter is blue.  In yellow you have the data supporting each view. 

Your paper will be as good as your supporting data. Each important point must be properly documented by experts & reliable sources. 

Please, use Times New Roman p.12, double-spaced, at the end cite the works as you see in the example below. PLEASE DO NOT COLOR YOUR DISCUSSION. 
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Phi 2010 
Philosophy paper (second assignment)
John Doe 

Why we need to raise the minimum wage for Americans

My thesis is that increasing the minimum wage is a good economic policy. Tying the minimum wage to inflation would allow it to rise along with the cost of living. If enacted, the measure would boost the wages of about 15 million low-income workers. The $9 minimum wage would be the highest in more than three decades, accounting for inflation, but still lower than the peaks reached in the 1960s and 1970s. (Romer, Cristina).

Conservatives disagree.  They forecast that the 11% minimum wage increase scheduled for this summer will lead to the loss of an additional 300,000 jobs among teens and young adults. According to recent data from a study by Richard Burkhauser and Joseph Sabia, 34% of minimum-wage workers were in families with incomes exceeding three times the poverty line ($22,050 for a family of four) which is roughly the top half of the income distribution. Only 17% were in poor families. they believe that companies that hire low-wage workers — both small businesses and some large businesses — have a place in the economy. They argue that raising the minimum wage increases the cost of business. Conservative economists conclude that making employees more expensive for companies to hire is detrimental to an economy like ours, with high levels of unemployment (even after the recession has ended). (Numark, David).

In spite of this conservative counter, many centrist, labor, and liberal groups have pushed for higher minimum wages. For example, Christine Owens, the executive director of the National Employment Law Project, said in a statement: “A higher minimum wage is key to getting the economy back on track for working people and the middle class. There is a growing consensus on the left and right that one of the best ways to get the economy going again is to put money in the pockets of people who work.” (Smith, Alice).

Advocates of increasing the minimum wage estimate that a $1.75 increase in the minimum wage would be enough to offset roughly 10 to 20 percent of the increase in income inequality since 1980. According to data compiled by the economists Thomas Piketty, at the Paris School of Economics, and Emmanuel Saez, at the University of California, Berkeley, inequality has worsened considerably during that time, and many metrics show that wages have stagnated or declined for millions of working families. The income share of the top 1 percent of earners has doubled, to 20 percent in 2011 from 10 percent in 1980. Between 1980 and 2008, according to analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, the top 10 percent of earners captured 98 percent of all income gains. (Camargo, Julio). 

Conservatives debate this last point. They claim this ad hoc wage increase would cause a long-term detrimental effect on job creators. For conservatives, the principal sources of an individual's higher earnings are experience accumulation and specialized skills in the labor market. Increasing the minimum wage burdens job creators, especially when the economy is weak. House Speaker John A. Boehner voted against a 2006 bill letting the minimum wage rise to its current level of $7.25 from $5.15. The legislation ultimately passed with bipartisan support in 2007, though many Republicans voted against it. (Mc Gonigal, Jane) 

Works Cited

McGonigal, Jane. "Minimum Wage To What End?" YouTube, uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.

Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. "Delay the Minimum Wage." Business Today, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Accessed 26 May 2009. 

Smith, Alice, "Getting the Economy on Track," nelp.org, March, 2012.