12/4(Sat) Inflation / The Minimum Wage (Host: Sherry)

[Sherry Liao]

Session I: Inflation

Articles recommended before meeting:

1. What Does Current Inflation Tell Us About The Future?
2. I’m A Twenty Year Truck Driver, I Will Tell You Why America’s “Shipping Crisis” Will Not End
3. The Confusion Over Inflation

Questions for Discussion:

1. Do you think the global supply-chain logjam is the major cause of current inflation? What are other possible causes of the inflation?
2. In your opinion, do you believe the inflation is temporary? Is Taiwan headed for hyperinflation? When do you expect the inflation to move down?
3. If, over time, wages and salaries on average rise at least as fast as inflation, why do people worry about how inflation affects incomes?
4. How do you hedge against inflation? What do you do with cash during hyperinflation?
5. How does inflation redistribute purchase power? Do you benefit from or get hurt by inflation? Who in an economy is the big winner from inflation?

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Session II: The Minimum Wage

Articles recommended before meeting:

1. What You Need To Know About The Minimum Wage Debate
2. The 7 Most Dangerous Myths About A $15 Minimum Wage

Questions for Discussion:

1. Should we raise the minimum wage? Why or why not? In your opinion,
   1a. does raising the minimum wage benefit the overall purchasing power?
   1b. does raising the minimum wage kill jobs and increase prices of goods and services?
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” Do you agree with this statement? In your opinion, who should be responsible for “the wages of decent living”?
3. The minimum wage in Taiwan is TWD25,250 a month and TWD168 an hour as of January 1, 2022. Is it reasonable? What do you think is the reasonable minimum wage?
4. According to Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the stagnant minimum wage growth “directly responsible for growing inequality between the bottom and the middle class”. Do you agree? How can we minimize the rising income inequality?
5. According to The DGBAS (行政院主計總處), about 1,558,500 of labor (included native and foreign workers) benefit directed from the rise of minimum wage, around 13% of overall workforce in Taiwan. What do you know about people making minimum wage? What industries have the highest percentage workers earning wages at or below the minimum wage? Why?

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Agenda:
3:45 ~ 4:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
4:00 ~ 4:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
4:10 ~ 4:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
4:50 ~ 5:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
5:10 ~ 5:15pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
5:15 ~ 5:55pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
6:00 ~ 6:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
6:20 ~ 6:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements

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Meeting Date: As shown on the Subject Line
Meeting Time: 4:00pm – 6:30pm
Meeting Venue: 丹堤咖啡 Dante Coffee (Minimum Order $85)
Address: 台北市濟南路三段25號[MAP]-捷運忠孝新生站3號出口步行3分鐘

Important Notes:
1. We advise participants to print out the discussion questions and bring them to the meeting for reference. As for the supporting articles, feel free to print them out, as well, according to your preference.
2. We suggest that participants read the articles and think about the questions in advance.
3. Newcomers should prepare a two-to-three minute self-introduction in English to deliver when called upon by the host before the start of the discussion. The host may also ask you to give brief feedback about the meeting at the conclusion of the meeting.
4. We conduct the entire meeting in English. All participants should have at least moderate English-conversation skills and be able to articulate your ideas for each discussion question.
5. We welcome newcomers and other guests to attend the meetings and join the discussion freely for two times. After that, we hope you will consider becoming a YoYo English Club member. We charge a NT$1500 lifetime membership fee, or NT$1000 for students.

[Rock]

This is a good topic. I worry about my money in the bank a lot. Maybe I should spend it before it shrinks.

[Kooper]

I have read the first three articles. Among them the 3rd one seems to be the most worth reading. It introduces three types of problems that inflation could cause to individuals as well as business owners - unintended redistributions of purchasing power, blurred price signals, and difficulties in long-term planning. The last session is the icing on the cake. The author tries to play devil's advocate and make a case for inflation. Sounds interesting, right? If you don't have time for all three, just reading this one shall be good.

The 2nd article sheds some light on America's shipping industry from a rank and file's perspective. It's interesting to learn but we lose nothing if deciding to skip it.

[Kooper]

This is a good topic. I worry about my money in the bank a lot. Maybe I should spend it before it shrinks.

That's for sure. Since you have used up all the purchasing power, you are at no risk of further losing it.

[Kooper]

Reading the last article is mentally-challenging, if not tortuous, because it argues against opinions that disagree with seven popular concepts.

While reading we need to first put ourselves in the shoes of, say, party B, which criticize what party A claim. Then we wear the hat of party C arguing against party B. That process is kind of confusing in itself.

What makes it even more difficult is that it’s not as simple as reaching the conclusion that party C sees eye to eye with party A. More often than not, party C’s criticism only centers around a single weak point in party B’s statements. It’s neither straightforward nor logically correct to use party C’s statements and make a case for party A’s claims.