It is a very tough problem. Trying to do it all locally also pits town against each other. I think the thing is that this kind of minimum wage isn't a living wa

It is a very tough problem. Trying to do it all locally also pits town against each other. I think the thing is that this kind of minimum wage isn't a living wage so having it as a floor is not awful. I also think we have better tools to help the poor than minimum wage. I've also tried to think a little about this from the spend > consume > work > spend cycle. Minimum wage isn't a factor in SV tech jobs. The places that employ people at the minimum also tend to service those same people. Rich people don't shop at Wal-Mart (largely) so we are only adding costs to goods that poor people want. So wages go up but if prices go up the same or more, the poor have lost buying power. I think EITC is a much more targeted and effectively way to help the poor but it needs expanded.