Raising the Minimum Wage

For John, BLUF:  It's Economics.  Things will balance out.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From National Review and Writer Mark Antonio Wright we have "How White Castle Will Adjust to a $15 Minimum Wage in New York".

It starts:

This is something that’s become a bumper sticker,” Jamie Richardson tells me. “But it hasn’t really been thought through. There is a better way to get people out of poverty than hiking the minimum wage.”

Richardson is a vice president at White Castle, the chain of famously white-painted and turreted burger joints specializing in slider-style hamburgers in the Midwest and Mid Atlantic.

It is possible that many in the Lowell area have never been to a White Castle, but they are out there, at 400+ locations.  The article claims that they have a profit margin of 1 or 2 percent.  That isn't much.

The company, per Mr Richardson, will adapt by raising prices and bringing in automation.  Raising prices could cause customers to adjust their spending habits by eating at home more.  Automation means less human employees.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff