Check out co-author Jonathan Williams and ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Associate Director Skip Estes’ latest on the minimum wage in Issues and Insights:
A $15 per hour minimum wage would force many employers to cut hours, reduce available positions or even consider substitutes to physical labor such as automation. When Seattle raised its minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2014, hours worked declined and businesses began searching for and implementing alternatives to employment, like automated kiosks. As economist Adam Millsap points out, the costs of the increased minimum wage might be more easily absorbed by large firms who have the capital to install expensive items such as those automated kiosks.
