The World Is Not Enough
The left got their $15 minimum wage and it caused inflation. Now the same leftists want to raise the wage even more because of the inflation they caused
Want to talk about being unable to learn a lesson?
A decade after the so-called Fight for $15 campaign took root and won minimum wage hikes in some of the biggest states, liberal lawmakers and progressive activists are now aiming higher: $20 per hour or more.
California, Washington state and the District of Columbia have already edged beyond the $15 threshold, as of January. And activists are launching lobbying campaigns in more statehouses, hoping to push the minimum wage as high as $22 per hour in coming years. Others are pushing to index state minimum wages to inflation.
After inflation rocketed upward last year in a way not seen in decades and upended policy calculations made only a few years prior, those pushing for higher minimum wages see a rare opening to gain ground on progressive policy making.
“Fifteen dollars now is worth a lot less than I think advocates thought it would be when a lot of these bills were proposed and enacted,” Dave Cooper of the Economic Policy Institute said in an interview.
Yeah, can’t imagine why fifteen dollars now is worth a lot less than advocates thought it would be. Probably has a lot to do with the artificial wage inflation caused by raising the minimum wage to $15 in the first place.
Inflation is sky-high right now. Why? A toxic combination of supply chain shortages, minimum wage increases, and government handouts through federal stimulus programs.
There is no mystery here.
There is also no mystery what will happen if the minimum wage gets increased to $20 an hour.
Inflation will continue to climb.
You’ll see a lot more of these.
Once the left raises the minimum wage to $20, it won’t be long before they demand $25 an hour. Then $30. And all because the initial spike to $15 an hour caused inflation to rise.
The activist left has created a vicious cycle. One that elected officials would be wise to extricate themselves from before they allow these activists to crash the entire economy because of it.