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Right up until it protects you out of a job, like California’s fast food minimum wage: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34033/w340...


This paper has not been peer reviewed and is written by a conservative leaning academic. I'm sure you knew both of those things though


Is your position that making fast-food labor more expensive increases fast food employment? Because that's really a unique take.


I mean, yes, trivially? That only hinges on two factors: what share of a fast food business' overall expenses actually go to labor costs, and, y'know, how much extra demand is enabled by ensuring even the poorest workers make enough to afford fast food once in a while.

Takes like yours used to baffle me, until I realized that the US was founded on enslaved labor and to this day there remains a silent expectation in some circles that there must be a laborer class which should be as inexpensive and disposable as possible, and is fundamentally distinct from the consumer class. A lot becomes clearer all at once when you realize that to some, there's a whole segment of the population that is not expected to benefit from the economy, only serve it.

Historically, such worldviews have in the long term tended to bring sharp misfortune to those holding them. I'm hoping for a better outcome here, though.


Fast food workers are included in the consumer class.

As for slavery, the poorly educated believe that it was a uniquely American phenomenon. Slavery was a global institution practiced by every civilization, nation, and culture on earth. In fact, it’s still alive and well in multiple places. The US abolished it fully in 1865. Products produced by slaves accounted for around 15% of our GDP at its peak.

You learned something today. I’m proud of you.


It’s a solid paper. Are you able to put aside your irrational biases and consider other views?




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