How many people reading this would like a 65 percent pay raise? To get it, you won't have to accept more responsibility at your workplace and you won't have to work longer hours or improve your skills to be able to perform more difficult tasks. In fact, a ll you have to do is sign on the dotted line.

This is the proposition that was given to me not long ago by a group lobbying to raise the minimum wage in Tucson from $4.25 an hour to $7 an hour. Granted, a signature would put such a measure on the ballot and not necessarily more money in my pocket, bu t it sounds good. Or does it?

Critics of the current minimum wage claim that people can no longer raise a family on a minimum wage job. To remedy this embarrassing social flaw, we must raise the minimum wage so that low income earners will be able to afford life's necessities for them selves and their families. Business has been exploiting the lower class by paying them unfair wages, and profiting at their expense. Somehow, government must step in and right this terrible wrong.

Now, let's take a look at reality. First, it is true that one cannot raise a family on minimum wage. Such a job would have an annual income of approximately $8,160 (a single person earning this amount would not be subject to current federal or state taxes .) What kinds of jobs pay minimum wage? Fast food worker, convenience store cashier, telemarketer, gas station attendant and other such occupations. These jobs, like any other, give merit-based pay raises. So, it stands to reason that the individual who d oes this kind of work for an extended period of time without raise in pay does not deserve a raise.

Who uses these occupations as a primary source of income? Young people who are entering the workplace for the first time and possess few or no skills. Older people who do these jobs are typically: 1) earning more than minimum wage, 2) second-income earner s in a marriage or 3) working more than one job.

Now, let's say that this measure passes, and minimum wage is $7 an hour. Suddenly, all of those people who wouldn't work at McDonald's for $4.25 want to work there for $7. The number of people seeking employment will rise, which will raise unemployment ra tes. The amount of labor supplied (workers) will outnumber the amount of labor demanded (jobs), an economic condition which in the absence of price floors would drive the price of labor (wages) down.

In addition to increased unemployment, many businesses, which operate with very small profit margins, will have to either raise prices (inflation) or go out of business (more unemployment). It looks like the only good thing that can come from a $7 minimu m wage is that people will be able to afford the increase in prices.

It is unlikely that we will ever see minimum wage disappear. It even has a few advantages, such as serving as an equalizer when a 16 year-old tries to negotiate a wage with a savvy business owner. It is also indisputable that the cost of living will alway s slowly and steadily increase, necessitating a commensurate increase in the minimum wage. However, a 65 percent increase is absolutely absurd and would throw the economy of Tucson into certain and irreversible recession.

President Clinton is endorsing a measure that would raise the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15 over the next three years in two installments of 45 cents. While this amount is unnecessary, it is certainly preferable to the radical $7 proposed in Tucson. In addition, this proposal has the advantage of being nationwide. Why would anyone open a business in an area with higher wages than the rest of the country?

The ideal solution (coming from someone who does not make much more than minimum wage) would be to abolish the concept. In most cases, we let the market determine the price for goods and services, so why not let the market determine the price of labor? If McDonald's is only offering $2.50 an hour to work there, maybe Burger King will pay $4.25. If not, then the price of food will fall and the lower wages won't matter because people will still be able to afford the same things. Believe it or not, economics really does work.

For those of you who still think the $7 minimum wage is the way to go, it is obvious that you either know nothing about the principles of economics, or you are a quack economist. Talk to a real professor, or better yet, take an introductory class. You sho uld learn the consequences of your ideas before you act on them.

Ted Dubasik is an accounting senior. His column appears every other Friday.