Or, as already mentioned, I say fine, pay the $7/hr and raise the price of my goods. Me and millions of other businesses do that, so the living wage has to go up, so at least one large round of inflation has to happen, even graciously assuming that it slows or even stops after that. That means that the college fund you've been putting into for 15 years is now good for the first semester, or the house down payment you've been saving up for is now another five years away, etc. Only fair to compensate people for that too, right? After all, it was a government decision, not some failing on their part, so subsidizing the education or the housing market is the right thing to do. After all, being a good Christian conservative, you wouldn't want people to lose their life savings, would you?