I like that cartoon.
An angle of the minimum wage argument that is seldom spoken of is the effect that such a drastic hike poses to the rest of the wage structure.
Imagine an enterprising young guy. He joined up at a considerably lower wage (because that was the prevailing wage then), and worked his way up to, say, $16/hr. Now he sees newbies starting for just a dollar less than he worked his ass off to achieve. And he knows that his employer has drained the discretionary budget so there will be no wage increases for a long, long time.
How do you suppose he feels? Where is the incentive to work harder or try to prove oneself when you know you won’t be compensated?
Government should get the hell out of the labor market!
The displacements that occur with min wage falls under the crony capitalism umbrella (there, said it without the word ‘socialism’). Milton Friedman is turning in his grave.
Really screws up the mechanics and dynamics of productivity.