If I correctly understand the current thinking on the $15 an hour minimum wage, I can drop out of high school, dumb as a box of rocks, and expect to walk into a $15 an hour job that I can keep for the rest of my life (with cost of living increases of course) and be able to buy a car, get married, have health insurance (required by law), buy a house, have kids, send them to college and eventually retire.
Will this cause a ripple effect in pay levels? You can’t pay the employee who was making $15 an hour because of his skills, education or experience the same as the dumb as a box of rocks guy. So you have to give him a raise or he just might take a demotion to the low skill, no responsibility job since it pays the same. Or go somewhere that will. And so it will go all the way up through the company. Pay more or lose the skills.
A high minimum wage will stifle motivation. Why aspire to a higher level with more responsibility when you can get by just fine at your current level? The only people that will be motivated by the $15 an hour minimum wage will be the people inventing machines to replace minimum wage employees. I predict in the near future, you will be ordering your burger using an ATM type device.
Where does the money come from to raise entry level pay to $15 an hour? The money can only come from two places: Lower the cost of doing business or charge more for your product or service. So while some employees will enjoy their big pay raise, others will find themselves unemployed. When the cost of the product or service becomes higher than the public is willing to pay, the business will suffer and eventually fail putting more employees in the unemployment line. Nine dollar Big Mac anyone?