Should we raise the national minimum wage in the United States of America? I’d like to say yes. I’d like to say, raise the minimum wage to $50. But I’d also like to say high school is a magical place where all students get straight As and have no homework. The sad reality is that raising the minimum wage has more economic implications than it sounds. Raising the minimum wage will inflate the value of the dollar and destroy this economy. Maybe not all at once, but slowly and surely.

The first component of the economy that the raising of the minimum wage destroys is the small business. Small businesses already have a hard enough time competing with larger corporations and now will have no hope at all to fight Goliath. In President Obama’s world, David loses to Goliath.

A small business has already a hard enough time paying three employees the minimum wage and when the minimum wage is raised by even as little as one dollar, the small business has to layoff an employee. Sure, one job lost isn’t going to change the economy, but there are approximately 28 million small businesses in the United States, according to a study done by Forbes. And let’s say only half of all those businesses layoff only one person, that’s about 14 million jobs lost.  Although President Obama has said on several occasions that small businesses are the backbone of the economy, his actions toward the minimum wage sure don’t show it.

The second implication of raising of the minimum wage is that it inflates the value of dollar. Over the past couple of months the dollar has regained its strength and is now almost comparable to its main competitor, the Euro. But if the minimum wage is raised, the dollar loses it value again and a dollar wouldn’t get you half a euro. See, that’s bad economics; good presidents strive for deflation instead of inflation.

Inflation also causes credit card companies and banks to increase their interest rates. For example, if my friend John buys a hot tub with a credit card  for $10,000 he would normally have an interest rate of 15%, but if politicians gamble with the minimum wage, that interest rate will increase even more. Interest rates are derived from the possible fear of inflation because credit card companies don’t want to give money out that will be later be worth half as much as the real value. Simple economics — obviously a course our President missed at Columbia University.

The raising of the minimum wage sounds good, but financially and economically it is terrible. President Obama does not deserve all the blame though. There are other major proponents of raising the minimum wage, including Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti. But what these politicians don’t understand is that a higher minimum wage will ruin this economy and will send the United States back into a recession.