We have it here in Seattle, and I think it's a good idea. There have been contradictory reports about its effect on employment, but I think it's too early to really declare it a success or a failure. After enough time has passed and employers have settled on whether to update their prices, or move their businesses elsewhere, we'll have a better idea of how it is really affecting the economy.

I think some sort of protection is necessary, or there will be an increasing downward pressure on wages, as the pool of middle class jobs shrinks. In some ways I'm economically conservative, but not in this: I think all the evidence, not to mention common sense, tells me that we're headed for a very bad place if the mass of people can't support themselves by working full time. We've already seen some of the effects of this in the last election, and it ain't pretty.

On a petty level, I have a complaint about the $15 minimum wage, and it's tipping. Tipping is a really inefficient way to increase wages for people we think are underpaid. Now that we've increased wages, shouldn't the expectation to always tip 20% be weaker? I'm fine paying more at restaurants to cover the payroll increase, and I'm fine paying 20% to my waitstaff to supplement their artificially low wages, but doing both seems odd to me. If the 20% tip was necessary before, why is it still necessary now that wages are higher? Shouldn't it have been higher before, or lower now?