During Seattle's successful campaign for a $15 an hour minimum wage, our opponents would sometimes roll their eyes and snort, 'If $15 is so good, why not $50?' It was a straw man argument: Nobody was proposing a $50 minimum wage; it would have been too high, and we said so. Nick Hanauer argumentcampaigneye share on social
Diversity is America's most valuable resource. It is what makes us the most innovative nation on Earth. Nick Hanauer americadiversityearth Change image and share on social
In a sufficiently prosperous society where people specialize sufficiently, and where enough of the crappy work is done by machines, all work becomes art. Nick Hanauer artcrappymachine Change image and share on social
Prosperity isn't something that squirts out of rich people. Nick Hanauer peopleprosperityrich Change image and share on social
The theory that if wages go up, employment goes down isn't a physical law like F=MA. It's a moral law, like 'Bedtime is 9:00 P.M.' Nick Hanauer bedtimeemploymentlaw Change image and share on social
The thing about a real economy is that it actually is like the game of Monopoly in the sense that when one person has all the money, the game is over. And in a game of Monopoly, of course, that's quite charming, but in a real economy, it's much more problematic. Nick Hanauer charmeconomygame share on social
The most insidious thing about trickle-down economics is not the claim that if the rich get richer, everyone is better off. It is the claim made by those who oppose any increase in the minimum wage that if the poor get richer, that will be bad for the economy. This is nonsense. Nick Hanauer badclaimeconomics share on social
We became enthralled with the view that wealth trickled down from the top and that if you poured money into rich people, sort of like an ingredient, prosperity and jobs would squirt out of them like donuts. And if you understand economies in the 19th-century way, that view is plausible, and I think a lot of people accepted it. Nick Hanauer 19thacceptcentury share on social
The only really expensive thing in our family budget, frankly, is private air travel. Nick Hanauer airbudgetexpensive Change image and share on social
The most powerful forces in economics are not numbers or facts. They are prejudices and preferences. No amount of evidence will ever change the degree to which many of the rich and powerful prefer themselves to be richer and more powerful and others poorer and weaker. Nick Hanauer amountchangedegree share on social