Government Intervention

Some people argue that there is too much government intervention, while others say there is not enough. Based on the presentation of laws in this chapter, do you think there is too little or too much government intervention? Explain your answer.

Federal law is implemented in four categories: Income continuity, safety, and work hours; pay discrimination; accommodating disabilities and family needs; prevailing wage laws. There is always a need for oversight (supervision through accountability) although oversight has needs of boundaries as well. It is my opinion there is too much government intervention in the mandates of business.

First in discussion in minimum wage. The federal mandate for minimum wage was 25 cents per hour in 1938. The law began as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 with three issues: minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor provision. The issue with minimum wage is that it mandates a national base pay by which some states are more affected than others. Because of the broadness of the pay, minimum wage, at times, does not constitute the minimal cost of living. The intent behind minimum wage was to ensure states complied with a federal mandate to ensure workers received above poverty income.

Secondly, approximately 85 years ago America suffered through the Great Depression of the 1930s. This time period evoked the Social Security Act of 1935 which provided a federal pay check to workers that lost their jobs due to no fault of their own as well as the Workers compensation which provided a federal paycheck due to injuries on the job. The financial stability of America was at an all-time low; so the federal government began these initial mandates to assist in providing financial stability to the government. As there are today, so was the time in history; same ideas in a different era. Huey Long, a Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932, had the idea of taking from the rich to give to the poor, “Every Man A King”