Monday, June 26, 2017

An Expected Outcome

Steven Hayward, one of the Power Line bloggers, links to a story from the Washington Post concerning Seattle's attempt to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. The news isn't good.
The city is gradually increasing the hourly minimum to $15 over several years. Already, though, some employers have not been able to afford the increased minimums. They've cut their payrolls, putting off new hiring, reducing hours or letting their workers go, the study found.

The costs to low-wage workers in Seattle outweighed the benefits by a ratio of three to one, according to the study, conducted by a group of economists at the University of Washington who were commissioned by the city.

On the whole, the study estimates, the average low-wage worker in the city lost $125 a month because of the hike in the minimum.
SJWs can't believe the law of supply and demand still applies. Unfortunately for them, their disbelief has no effect on the workings of the market. Anyone who paid attention in Basic Economics would expect no other outcome.

Although WaPo doesn't mention it, some low-income Seattle residents asked for fewer hours. Their new higher wage threatened to make them ineligible for housing assistance, worth substantially more than the extra pay.

Later ... Investor's Business Daily reports McDonalds is replacing cashiers with ordering kiosks at thousands of its restaurants, saving a ton of money and dumping thousands of low-skill workers back on the unemployment rolls. Their motivation: anticipated increased labor costs.