[csours]

> "The other way to frame minimum wage is that it makes it illegal to work unless you can produce $X value per hour."

Wages are a cost to a company. There are other costs to a company. Companies also return a profit to the owners. If a company's costs are too high, they my not return a profit; they may not be able to pay their creditors.

My dad ran his own very small business. I am familiar with a business not making a profit for a period of time. I am familiar with workers who are not profitable to employ.

It is a reduction to absurdity to state that minimum wage "makes it illegal to work unless you can produce $X value per hour."

There are interesting, non-absurd discussions about the effects of minimum wage, but this is not one of them.

[akvadrako]

So you're saying your Dad would be better off if he kept the $X then paying someone. That's what it means to produce value.

The number of employers seeking such an arrangement is so small it's irrelevant. In practice, not being able to pay people less that $15/hour means you won't hire people who bring less that $15/hour of value.