[poke111]

Not exactly. If the market-clearing price for low-skill labor is already above the minimum wage, it will have no effect. If the market price is far below the minimum wage, it will have a large effect - positive for the workers with jobs, negative for the ones who are priced out or have their hours cut.

[ben509]

But there is an effect. We're telling people "you both want to enter into this contract, and there's nothing illegal or fraudulent about it, but if you do it, at least one of you is going to jail." That's morally indefensible.

Grand schemes to fix society by making an income distribution curve on a spreadsheet look pretty don't mean squat compared to your neighbors' rights.