The idea of raising the minimum wage is noble and commendable, but many of the arguments rely upon raw emotion and neglect sound economic ramifications that will adversely impact the same people it's trying to help.

Raising the minimum wage has a number of serious and negative unintended consequences. Employers, especially small family and midsize businesses, will be disproportionately hurt by the extra costs incurred. The local neighborhood stores and businesses with razor-thin profits will be forced to raise prices to make up for the addition labor costs. Most will not survive.

Large corporations with big budgets will weigh the increased labor costs and elect to invest in technology to displace workers. This is already the norm at bi box stores, grocery, and target...it is called self check out. Amazon recently opened up several prototype Amazon Go stores that are self described as “a new kind of store featuring the world's most advanced shopping technology. No lines, no checkout—just grab and go!” Fast food chains and large department stores will follow suit and implement self-service checkout to save costs. Corporate executives will recognize that the $15 per hour could be routinely raised. They will weigh the future unknown costs associated with additional increases, coupled with the ever-increasing insurance costs, plus the time-consuming task of finding employees, training them and dealing with turnover. It's easier and less expensive to have technology take over.

As we settle into isolation and lockdowns, the only people doing semi-manual labor will be the one's pulling orders for on line shopping.