Remember, as Thomas Sowell has correctly pointed out, the true minimum wage is always ZERO. I'm advising a smallish manufacturer now whose goal (as a response to minimum wage and other govt regulation) is to eliminate ALL of their employees, through both automation and outsourcing. I've seen the numbers, and this takes them from barely profitable in a good economy to marginally profitable even in a fairly down economy. They will not survive another downturn if they don't do this, so all the jobs will be gone soon, anyway.

This isn't what they want to do, but what they must do, especially with no barrier to Chinese cheating in the market.

Policy has consequences, and right now, most of our government policies are actually arguing against creating (or even maintaining) jobs.