Minimum Wage

I don't know exactly how I feel about the current $15 / hr minimum wage debate — lots of ramifications economically and socially.  As an employer of minimum wage employees, $15 / hr would substantially affect our margins.  If I were an employee, I would think it very difficult to exist on current minimum wage levels.

The sides of the current debate about this seem to be highly influenced by where you are starting from.  How do wages impact our views of life?  Would more money for the same work be better?  Or, would it disincentivize a person from growing and becoming capable of more contribution?  How is value monetized?  How should it be?  How does what executives make relative to minimum wage workers impact these questions?

We all have a tendency to use research as a drunkard uses a lamp-post — for support, but not for illumination.

-- David Ogilvy