Wealth Distribution in the USA

Actually, minimum wages do vary state by state, with a federal minimum to rule them all. California's wage is higher than Montana's, so I assume that's because the costs of living are different.As far as teens being priced out of the job market, I believe there are more adults than teens working for minimum wage. Are these adults also being priced out of their markets by rising wages?

Again, I'd like to point out your generalization isn't entirely correct (just like I did with the minimum wage differences, state to state). For instance, the company I work for isn't owned by stockholders - it's an international private company, and they do offer limited partnerships to us, the employees. So I do own part of the company that employs me. In fact, all partners must be employed by the company; once we retire, we liquidate our ownership and no longer are LPs.

I don't own 'stock' in the company I work for; stock is something people own in publicly traded companies. Anyone working for AT&T can own stock in that company.Not anyone can be invited to become a partner in the company I work for; you must be profitable, based on company standards, and no one outside the company can buy into a partnership. That's the difference between our business model and the kind of companies you were talking about.Edited by ooh-child, : typos