Subject: txt mny sclm -
"In 2007, the United States enacted legislation that incrementally applies the US minimum wage to American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)... American Samoa's private sector economy is largely based on the tuna canning industry, and the closure of one of its two tuna canneries in September 2009 significantly affects the labor market and economy...
Until recently, the garment industry was central to the CNMI economy and employed close to a third of all workers; however, by early 2009, the last garment factory had closed."
Source: The Government Accountability Office.
Change in median annual inflation-adjusted earnings in American Samoa from 2006 to 2008: -6%
Percentage of American Samoa tuna canneries that have closed since minimum wage increase: 50%
Percentage of CNMI garment factories that have closed since then: 100%
Fraction of private sector employees who work for employers who plan to close or relocate by the end of 2010: 84%
Source: The Government Accountability Office.
[Again and again: for every 10% increase in an arbitrary minimum wage there's a 2% reduction in employment levels. When you consider the devastating effect an unemployed person has on an economy, such policies are lunacy - yet year after year...]
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