<p>Minimum wage can be a huge problem when it is set too high, which it almost always is, or at least intended to by its creators. It destroys competition within the labor market, workers are guaranteed to be paid a certain rate regardless of their performance or abilities: there is no incentive for innovation. It also will affect workers. If the minimum wage is too high, the supply of labor will be much greater than the deman of labor from the firms. There should be some kind of worker's protection, but minimum wage and all these other concoction of labor unions and socialists in the long run hurt the economy. They effect both employees and employers. A minimum wage doesn't help anyone if firms are not employing people because its too expensive: now they'll just outsource or offshort the work. Any kind of collective bargaining doesn't really do anyone good. It will only hurt in the long run, when competition is lost or compromised. </p>
<p>If there is no minimum wage the equilibrium rate will be set by the market. This is ideal. When you have governments interfering you are distorting market forces and making it worse for everyone. High minimum wage and collective bargaining raises prices for consumers, firms who have to pay employees more than the market says they should will have to recoup those costs somewhere. They will get the consumers with them. Or hire less workes or innovate less. But most likely they will move jobs to cheaper countries and that's bad for everyone involved. </p>
<p>The only jobs that are really affected by minimum wage are often secondary sector jobs or low wage low prestige tertiary sector jobs. Jobs that will eventually be lost anyway and moved. Instead of moaning about minimum wage we should be training and re-educating people to do new more specialized jobs.</p>