Seattle passes $15 Minimum Wage

[Tom Sawyer]

This increase is phased in over a rather lengthy period IIRC. San Jose just over a year ago raised their minimum wage to 10 bucks an hour, dire predictions were made: business cutting hours, closing down and moving away, increased unemployment, dogs and cats living together, the basic gnashing of teeth you generally get when the topic is discussed.
So 1 year later what do we find?

The city reports that business is growing, with 84,000 businesses registered at the start of 2014 compared to 75,000 the previous year. Importantly, the leisure and hospitality industry -- the sector that includes food services, and where many minimum wage employees work -- experienced a net increase of 4,000 jobs in San Jose in 2013, according to the California Employment Development Department.

In the city center, the San Jose Downtown Association reports that businesses grew by 3 percent in the past year, with the retail sector, which includes restaurants, increasing to 19 percent of all downtown businesses, up from 15 percent in 2012.

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_25315215/san-jose-minimum-wage-year-old-success-story

Wow, think of how prosperous San Jose would have been over this period if they hadn't been hamstringing businesses with this kind of unsustainable minimum wage while all those other completely unrelated things which led to the job growth were going on.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-seattle-minimum-wage-20140602-story.html

I look forward to seeing the burning crater that is left of Seattle once the MW is done with it.

It's not going to have much effect because it's already such an expensive city.

The start of The Great Backpedal.

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I'm saying it's not going to have much effect,

Funny, that's what most of us have been saying too!

Minimum wage only causes harm when it's above the market clearing price.

Counting the effects of the lower wage for teenagers I suspect it's not much above market clearing.