Sarah

No one “earns” a billion dollars. No one can work a billion times harder than anyone else. There is no good, ethical, or righteous billionaire. That kind of wealth can only be accumulated through the exploitation of the working class. No exceptions.

The Mail doesn't think seem to think workers, of all ages, are worth £15 an hour. That's fair pay for a fair day's work, with money workers will put back into the economy. We are the party for workers. Vote Green on 7th May.

A minimum wage of £15 would end my coffee shop, it would have to close, as would many other businesses. I’ll explain for the economically illiterate. Staff costs are currently half our costs, a £15 minimum wage is actually more than £15 an hour for the company, because you have to add: - 12.07% holiday - Sick pay - Maternity pay if and when required - National insurance - Pension contributions These costs would mean the shop loses money because remember, energy costs are up, rates are up, regulations are up. Now you can pass these costs onto the consumer - that would mean charging a lot more for coffee, people won’t pay it. The likes of Starbucks and Costa can, because they have economies of scale. The independent doesn’t. Now the little socialist will say well this is your fault, if you can’t run a business that can afford to pay its staff properly, but the little socialist has never run a business and does not understand the dynamics. Now I could pay some staff off and fill those hours myself or reduce us to one staff member during certain periods - but this proves the point that a minimum wage costs jobs. There was a time when these jobs were done by kids, perhaps on the weekend, paid a lower wage, no holiday and no silly employment rights. Perhaps they were even paid cash. The dynamic worked and small businesses like this could operate. It was also a great first job. Sadly now it isn’t worth employing entitlement youngsters at this level of pay. So alas, I don’t need the stress, the business would close, a number of jobs would be lost. Economics is about understanding these dynamics, no vibes. The cost of living is not solved through passing on inflation to the business, it is solved by ending high inflation and creating prosperity. This is what socialists don’t understand, they can’t create prosperity, they can only destroy it.

The case for free buses is actually really strong. They take people off the road, and make traffic better for everyone. At the very least, we should not expect them to make back their expenses at the farebox. Read it all below:

Yesterday I ordered an obscure book and a 20 pound bag of dog food on Amazon. Today it was delivered to my house in rural upstate New York. Remind me again why Jeff Bezos doesn’t deserve to be a billionaire?