[HillaryBriss]

> ... why don't you use spoons instead?

reminds me of one of the arguments against minimum wage hike theory: if raising the minimum wage makes workers better off and has absolutely no drawbacks for anyone, why raise it to a mere $15/hour? why don't we do some real good and crank it all the way up to $100/hour?

[Robotbeat]

And why not eliminate it, if it's bad? That way we can pay people to dig with spoons instead of expensive backhoes.

Seriously, though, to answer the question: there's a point where a raise in the minimum wage will stop being helpful, and everyone who supports the minimum wage understands this.

[HillaryBriss]

> ... why not eliminate it, if it's bad?

Did I say that the minimum wage was bad?

I view the minimum wage as something with both advantages and disadvantages. Depending on its level, different workers and businesses are helped or hurt.

If $15 is helpful, then $20 must be more helpful, except to the workers whose hours are cut back, etc. At each point along the scale some workers are helped but others are hurt.

If everyone who supports the minimum wage thinks that, beyond a certain level, it is no longer "helpful", what is the official, universally accepted definition of "helpful"?

How many workers can lose their jobs vs how many experience an improved standard of living?