Hi Jay,

I loved this episode. First, I’d like to point out that the notion of “one-size-fits-all” doesn’t really apply to a minimum wage. Life in central Kansas is not nearly as expensive as life in New York City. For this reason, I think the notion of a universal minimum wage is a little naïve and destined to fail. I think that each State, maybe even specific regions within each State, should create it’s own minimum wage. We see this happening right now. Several states, as your reporting made clear, have decided not to wait on the Federal Government to act. This is a good thing.
Having said that, I’d like to add that I think it’s a good idea for the Federal Government to set the absolute Minimum Wage… the wage lower than which no State or region can go.
But I really wanted to share with you a personal anecdote. Once upon a time I worked in (and ultimately owned) an independent pharmacy that was adjacent to a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Back when Minimum Wage first went above $5.00, the owner of the KFC came into the pharmacy belly aching about how he was going to have to fire some employees because he couldn’t afford to pay them that much. Then he looked at me and said, “You don’t want to pay $20 for a bucket of chicken, do you?”
I explained to him that neither one of those things was going to happen. I explained that the overwhelming majority of people earning minimum wage are not going to “invest their money wisely”. I explained to him that most of them would celebrate the extra $20 on their paycheck every Friday by going out and buying a 12-pack of beer and a bucket of chicken.
I predicted he wouldn’t fire anybody, nor would he charge $20 for a bucket of chicken.
A year went by and he came into my store literally whistling and dancing. I asked him why he was so happy and he said, “I’ve been in business over 30 years and I’ve never had a year this good!” He had made more money that year than in any year prior.
I asked him if he raised his prices and he said he’d gone up a dime on his soda pop, but nothing else.
I asked him if he had fired anybody and he told me he’d actually hired 2 more people!
I reminded him of our previous conversation, which he said he didn’t remember (and I believe him)… I pointed out exactly what had happened and why…
And he proceeded to tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about.

If we put the money in the hands of the people at the top, they will NOT spend it… They invariably save it… and that doesn’t do anybody (except them… in the short run) any good.
If we put the money in the hands of the people at the bottom, they WILL spend it… It will pass through 1,000 hands along the way, helping each and every one…

Thanks for all you do!
Be Well,
Eric