My Interview

Today, I interviewed Dr. Julia Heath. She is the Professor and Chair in the Department of Economics. I was not completely sure what to ask her, but I felt like what we did talk about was helpful. She didn't really tell me too much information I didn't know, but we did debate some things. I asked her some questions like whether or not a living wage would prevent a recession and whether or not a living wage would help increase the number of people that go to college. I also asked her if she thought a living wage would help with homelessness. We talked about some concerns I had with some of the research I did. She did help a lot at some of the things I had questions about. One question I had was that some research materials said the U.S. could not afford a living wage, but she had a really good comeback to this. She said when employees get paid more, they work harder, which causes more production. More production creates more money, which in turn goes to pay the employees. I really liked this because I knew there was no way the U.S. couldn't afford a living wage, but I could not come up with a good comeback to that statement. Another concern I had was that if a living wage is enforced, will that create less scholarships. My parents make good money, so it was very difficult for me to get scholarships. One of my friends had a single mom who made less than $30,000 a year. She got tons of scholarships. We talked about how this would greatly affect scholarships, but people will have more money so it might not make as big of a difference. In order for people to get scholarships, the requirements would have to change. I am still questioning how I feel about this whole living wage thing. For the most part, I think a living wage would be a great thing, but there are still bad things that make me question it. I think the interview was good as far as talking to someone who knows about the topic and asking them questions and debating everything. I enjoyed the interview. It was very laid back, but I felt like it helped a little bit.