[grondilu]

> Businesses that can't pay workers a living wage should have to shut down.

This should emerge as a natural consequence of economic reality. If workers can't earn a living from a business, they are supposed to either resign or die (per definition). And the business would have to either increase its wages or shut down.

There should be no need to regulate that with laws.

[alkonaut]

There is no need to regulate this with laws if the parties of the labor market are of comparable strength (which is the definition of a functioning market - that the parties involved have some kind of parity).

In most parts of the US labor market there is no such power parity between employees and employers - and minimum wage laws are just trying to band aid the problem instead of addressing the root cause.

I doubt the US will see scandinavian levels of worker organization any time soon, but a reasonable fix would be to have a social safety network that is so strong that it competes with employment. A non time-limited unemployment insurance that paid a reasonable fraction of the minimum wage (e.g. 50-75%) would likely have a significant effect on the bargaining position of workers.

[tarboreus]

Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?