Why The Minimum Wage Should Be $11 Immediately

It is not demand and supply that has kept wages stagnant. Unless the masses can purchase, you can not produce. A rising tide lifts all boats. Only when you throttle the market can wages stays stagnant. The wages have been kept artificially low.

It's not just economics though. It's also a matter of fairness. Someone working full time should be able to take care of themselves and their families. That should be the benchmark.

Forget minimum wage. We are at the cusp of the era of the Universal Basic Income. Rises in productivity will be so outlandishly dramatic, they are going to be off the radar screen. Old measuring tools will no longer work.

Universal Basic Income is not minimum wage. It is not unemployment benefits. It is a new concept.

I am for growing 10 times more food and let everyone just have it. I am for free internet access for everyone. It would be a money maker for every municipality. It would also be a community building exercise. People who might want free internet access might have to congregate. There is health value to that. NYC is about to make $500 million per year by turning all its phone booths into Gigabit WiFi hotspots.

For health, the US government should buy a copy of my book on behalf of every American. I would be happy to offer a 60% discount.

As for super cheap housing, I am waiting for some advances in nanotechnology.

Crisis: Opportunity For Greatness For Obama

This crisis is an opportunity to take big steps towards an America that is taking clear strides towards a clean energy future where energy is abundant but clean - yes, that's possible - an America that is a knowledge economy with universal 100 MB broadband, a country of 75% college graduates, a country where health care is woven into the social fabric, an America where wellness has become part of the value system, and people eat right and are not overweight, an America that keeps churning the jobs, companies and industries of tomorrow because America forever continues to be a country of immigrants, a country that gets better and better at managing the newest waves of immigration, a country where there is room also for the unemployed, for perhaps there always will be some unemployed, and where there is dignity for those working the lowest paying jobs, a country where the minimum wage keeps rising because those on the cutting edge keep creating the newest waves of wealth, and some of that wealth gets passed on to everybody, because if it were not for the trust that everybody puts into the country's currency there would be no currency to speak of, and there would be no economy, and if it were not for everybody there would be no consumers, no voters, no citizens, no democracy, no economy, no country to speak of, an America that is finally no longer separated from the rest of humanity by two oceans, and shares a humane border with Mexico, an America of lifelong education, of universal health care, an America of total campaign finance reform, an America that is forever making strides, is forever fulfilling the mission it was born with, that of a universal spread of democracy, a country that is not only at peace with globalization, but one that shapes that globalization to make it just not only to technological capital, and financial capital, but also human capital, a country that takes the lead on shaping the global institutions so essential to a global community of nations, a country that has the humility to admit it is but one among many nations, that when it strives for greatness, to be and to stay the number one country, it does not have the intention to push down any other, but knows that in helping all the rest lift up is what makes it so great.

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