"Democrats have been debating whether to tolerate congressional candidates who are pro-life, but when it comes to economic issues party leaders seem to have decided they’re all Sandernistas now. For example, there is absolute unanimity among senior elected Democrats in Washington that government should dictate a higher minimum wage.
But this is another issue that deserves debate.
New research shows the damage that minimum-wage laws have done to U.S. workers—and not just those employed in restaurants.
The latest warning against politicians committing economic malpractice arrives in a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. “People Versus Machines: The Impact of Minimum Wages on Automatable Jobs,” by Grace Lordan and David Neumark, examines decades of data to see what happens when legislated wage increases give employers a financial incentive to replace humans with technology.Even before the publication of this report, restaurant workers were already learning what happens when political pressure to pay higher wages hits an industry that has the ability to automate.
After a union harassment campaign against McDonald’s over its entry-level wages, the company accelerated the deployment of digital technology that allows customers to tap their orders on a screen instead of talking to a cashier.
In the face of city and state mandates to raise wages, the chain has continued to automate more functions in its restaurants, and investors have been cheering.
McDonald’s shares have risen more than 30% this year..."
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