If the minimum wage did go up other wages would go up too, no? Milton Friedman made me question if there should be a minimum wage at all, but in this world where there is one I think employers have no choice but to pay more for all labor as the minimum rises. Nobody will seek to do more dangerous/complicated work if they're not getting paid extra for it.
Raise those wages and the expenses involved with producing the cheap goods those low wage workers produce will rise. That cost will be passed on to the consumer, and the "living wage" will increase beyond the new level. Unless we want Carter-like inflation, they should cease and desist.
The other proverbial fece in the punch bowl comes for those who have already or are shortly retiring, who will see their purchasing power diminish rapidly rendering their savings (and any pensions/social security they get) worth considerably less.
As an aside, it is the government trying to inflate its way out of debt. The numbers are fixed, the money is worth less and easier to come by. Unfortunately, interest rates commonly rise during inflationary periods as well, so the bankers at the Fed will cover their private concerns with increased interest rates to compensate for the double whammy of increased money supply and diminishing value, where the interest rate does not keep pace with inflation.
Great way to throw a monkey wrench into a free market economy, by changing one factor arbitrarily.
BTW, dangerous and more complicated work doesn't just pay minimum wage. I work in the oil industry, I know. Industry employees won't do hose jobs for that, and that is how the free market works.
Wages go up until the requisite number of people will do the job for those wages. BTW in one of the boom towns, McDonalds was paying $15/hr, with a $500 sign on bonus after 6 months. They couldn't compete with oilfield wages, though and were always looking for people.
