Criza salariului minim

Am tot citit articole si analize despre cauzele actualei crize din care reiesea : ca ar fi vina FED, ca ar fi vina lacomiei bancherilor sau a lacomiei cetatenilor care vor case fara sa munceasca, ca ar fi vina pietei libere care nu se autoechilibreaza, ca ar fi sfirsitul modelului economic de tip ” laissez faire”. Pai daca pina acum piata a fost libera, de ce a mai existat bariera din ce in ce mai inalta a salariului minim?

Letonia

Cea mai afectata tara de criza economica din UE este Letonia. Extrem de interesant este ca aceasta tara a avut , in anii care au precedat criza, cea mai mare crestere a salariilor din Uniunea Europeana dupa cum se observa in urmatorul grafic:

Aceasta crestere a salariilor s-a datorat cresterii salariului minim (dar pentru cit timp?):

in ian 2006 :

At the end of October 2005 the Government made the final decision on the minimum wage in Latvia to be EUR 128 per month as of 1 January 2006. More than EUR 37 million in the state budget have been allocated for the increased minimum wage. The increased minimum wage was one of the requirements set forth by the trade unions. After the increase the minimum wage is to be 36% of the gross average salary as at June 2005, but only 30% (lower than ever since 1997) of the gross average salary as at June 2006. The other demand of trade unions – to increase the untaxed minimum, is currently not being discussed.

The increase of the minimum wage is a constant theme of the debate among social partners in Latvia. In 2003, the agreement of social partners resulted in successful approval and adoption of the minimum wage increase concept, which provided for a strict minimum wage increase schedule, by the RL Cabinet of Ministers. According to this schedule, the minimum wage should reach a half of the gross monthly salary of the respective year.

in sept 2006 :

The Latvian government has decided to raise minimum wage from 130 to 170 euros per month. Peteris Strautins sees this as a sensible move and says claims that it will boost inflation are unfounded. “The battle against inflation should not be fought out on the backs of those who receive minimum wages. That would be callous and unproductive. The average wage in Latvia is around 430 euros per month, so the minimum wage is just 40 percent of that. A much greater risk is that raising minimum wage could lead to the exclusion of less productive people from the labour market, which in turn would increase unemployment. However, when we look at other countries we can see that minimum wages at this level hardly pose a risk.

in 2007 :

In late June 2007, the government approved the regular increase of the monthly minimum wage to €227, along with an increase of the tax-free threshold to €114. The changes were adopted by the social partners at the National Tripartite Cooperation Council meeting on 20 June 2007 and will take effect as of 1 January 2008. Businesses and local authorities have raised concerns about the minimum wage increase, stating that it will lead to higher employment costs and reduced competitiveness.

Acum Letonia taie pentru a treia oară salariile şi pensiile

Parlamentarii letoni au aprobat tăieri de buget de 715 milioane de euro (10 % economii din cheltuielile bugetare globale). Decizia s-ar traduce prin reduceri cu 20 % din salariile funcţionarilor publici, în special ale membrilor guvernului, şi 10 % din pensii şi ajutoarele sociale, cu punere în aplicare imediată – de la 1 iulie.

Asa se intimpla cind politicienii uita ca pretul just este stabilit prin cerere si oferta si incearca sa schimbe “legile fizicii”!

Irlanda

Un alt caz extrem de interesant este cel al Irlandei, care a fost una dintre tarile cel mai puternic afectate la inceputul crizei:

in 2006

Before the end of the year, and the Dáil break for Christmas, the government is tipped to announce an increase in the minimum wage. The Labour Court recently recommended that the wage be increased from €7.65 an hour to €8.30 an hour on January 1 .

in 2007

Tony Killeen T.D, Minister for Labour Affairs today announced that he has accepted the Labour Court recommendation to increase the national minimum wage from 1 January, 2007 to €8.30 per hour and from 1 July, 2007 to €8.65. The Minister will give effect to the increases by Statutory Order.

iar unica solutie de rezolvare a crizei din Irlanda pare a fi:

Ireland’s minimum wage ‘needs to be cut’

Ireland’s minimum wage of €8.65 per hour is too high and needs to be cut, a senior economist said at the CIPD Ireland annual conference this week.“The current minimum wage was a reflection of the essence of the bubble economy which inflated the values of goods, property and labour,” Jim O’Leary, economist at Maynooth university, told the conference in Dublin.

S.U.A.

Dar cel mai important dintre toate este cazul S.U.A., ca doar de aici a pornit criza.

in 2007

The act raises the federal minimum wage in 3 increments: to $5.85 per hour 60 days after enactment (2007-07-24), to $6.55 per hour 12 months after that (2008-07-24), and finally to $7.25 per hour 12 months after that (2009-07-24).

In loc de concluzie

Nu cred ca mai are rost sa prezint si cazul Romaniei…

In final, vreau doar sa adaug ca tehnica socialistilor (grupati uneori in sindicate) este sa solicite cresterea salariului minim, iar cind acesta incepe sa-si produca efectele (somaj, cresterea artificiala a discrepantelor dintre veniturile cetatenilor, criza economica, s.a.) tot ei striga in gura mare ca piata libera (sau capitalismul) nu functioneaza!