Jane Wu
Mrs. Mullen
IB Business and Management
10­13­14

#8: Using articles, distinguish between ‘economic’ and ‘political’ opportunities and threats. The article is about the prediction of the minimum wage in Oregon would increase to $9.25 in 2015 and the change of minimum wage in Oregon in the past several years. The minimum wage is set by the government and followed by all the businesses in Oregon. The political opportunities in this case would be provide all the businesses the least amount of money they have to spend on employees, so that they may be able to put money on some other things if they want to. On the other hand, the political threats here would be that some small businesses may not have enough money to pay for this high minimum wage, which is the second highest minimum wage in the nation. Additionally, some businesses, such as restaurants, do not work busily all the time, which makes the wage is kind of unfair comparing to working in busy hours. The economic opportunities in this case would be providing employees a basic expectation of their wages so that they know at least how much they could make each hour. The economic threats here would be the employees may just get the minimum wages for a long time instead of a higher wage even if they deserve better wages.

http://www.oregonlive.com/money/index.ssf/2014/09/oregon_minimum_wage_will_incre
.html

#10: How does legal system present both opportunities and threats for businesses?