For decades, many Americans have argued that minimum wages should be raised. Would it be a help or a harm? Many Americans want it because they believe it would help them have a better life. Furthermore, they believe that it will greatly help the poor to get out of poverty. Furthermore, Harkin believes that raising the minimum wage means more for America's gross domestic product (“Increase…”). Harkin estimates there will be about $25 billion more to the GDP, 100,000 more jobs, and 28 million Americans would get a raise if the minimum wage went up (“Raising…”). However, in my opinion, the minimum wage should not be increased. It will cause more harm than good because increasing the minimum wage will lead to increased unemployment and product prices. One harmful factor that raising the minimum wage will cause is increased unemployment. Many Americans argue that the minimum wage will not increase unemployment but will decrease it because it promotes a greater interest in people to work. However, this may be true, but what if people who were suddenly motivated to look for a job can't find one because companies aren't accepting employees? These companies could even reduce the number of employees, thus increasing unemployment. As a result, many businesses will do so when the minimum wage is increased due to the increased expenses it incurs to keep the business running. According to Olivo, a small print shop owner in New Jersey, he says the minimum wage increase will increase his expenses; therefore, it must reduce its expenses by “cutting employees, not hiring new ones, or introducing new technologies to reduce the number of employees it needs” (“Increasing…”). Some statistics have shown that these types of events occur where increasing the minimum wage will also increase unemployment. For example, Congress enacted a minimum wage increase in 1974, and unemployment increased from 5.1% to 9.0% in 13 months (Jaarda). Furthermore, Congress raised the minimum wage again in 1978 for four years and unemployment went from 6.4% to 10.8% (Jaarda). Additionally, Congress enacted another minimum wage increase in 1990 and experienced another increase in unemployment (Jaarda). These three examples further demonstrate that raising the minimum wage will increase unemployment due to increased expenses incurred by businesses. Another harmful factor resulting from the increase in the minimum wage is the increase in product prices. Many people say that raising the minimum wage will increase their spending on goods.