In Australia, the minimum wage is 16.12 USD. Minimum wage employment is not vulnerable to off-shoring (shelves must be packed in the local warehouse), but is to automation.

Looking at a few studies online, it seems as though there is no long term correlation between increasing the minimum wage and inflation.

I think you hit my points nail on the head. Automation is the upper bound, I'm not convinced on your latter point because market forces typically act before minimum wage, which I think a different comment or brought up in relation to McDonalds.

Just so it's clear I think if there is a legal solution to this it's on taxing the high end of incomes, inheritances, and capital gains, not the low end.

> I'm not convinced on your latter point because market forces typically act before minimum wage

If there were a long term inflationary effect, then industries particularly sensitive to minimum wage costs should have significantly higher prices in Australia compared to the US. That doesn’t appear to be the case; perhaps they absorb the additional costs in the profit margin. It can’t have no effect, but it’s clearly not as simple as you were implying.

> shelves must be packed in the local warehouse

There are offshore clothing manufacturers that arrange the clothes on racks and pack them in the containers.

Once the package reach the destination they do directly on display. This "saves" the company from having to pay someone higher wages for arranging clothing displays.

The companies will always chose lower costs wherever they can get away with.

There are lots of examples of countries having much higher minimum wages without the consequences you mentioned.

Nobody pays $7.25/hr in 2024, as nobody will work for that. McDonald's here is paying $15/hr and in the past 10-15 years have completely rebuilt their stores and kitchens and preparation processes to reduce labor needs.

The 7.25 rate was set in 1996. Adjusted for inflation, 7.25 is worth 15 today. There are thousands and thousands of jobs paying less than 15/hr.

In NC, where I live, the average wage for an entry-level crew member at McDonalds is $12.16, effectively 20% lower than the original purchasing power of the 1996 minimum wage.

https://www.indeed.com/cmp/McDonald%27s/salaries?location=US...

That's garbage. Quarter of a million Americans work for minimum wage, (i.e. exactly $15,079 annually) according to tax filings by employers.

This does not include those in tipping industries where they are allowed to have a base pay of under the minimum wage.

https://www.zippia.com/advice/minimum-wage-statistics

From that link, "that is only 0.15% of the working population" and nearly half of those workers are teenagers, i.e. it's a first-time, likely part-time job.

I stand by my claim that (essentially) nobody is working for minimum wage in 2024.

these are people specifically choose to work under the poverty limit to be eligible for safety net welfare: EBT/SNAP/WIC/Medicaid and then work for cash unrecorded.

like they work 4hr/day and accumulate ~1000 hours/year and then work off w2-payroll

How do you offshore a car wash, for example?

I buy one of TSLAs robots and remote control it from a foreign country claiming it AI.

We're talking about stuff that exists here.

That ain't cheaper!

Reality? What sources are you citing? Are you paid to post this?