We need to detach from the "jobs at any cost" mentality behind your first sentence. By that logic ending child labor is "still a net loss of jobs." I mean, he

We need to detach from the "jobs at any cost" mentality behind your first sentence. By that logic ending child labor is "still a net loss of jobs." I mean, here you are talking about a business owner having issues with the local homeless population who are homeless because their jobs don't pay enough to afford housing. All these business owners race to the bottom paying their employees scraps and then wonder why they have empty dining rooms with no customers to afford their products sold at record-high profit margins. Obviously, minimum wage doesn't really fix the economy on its own, but it is a very important tool in a toolbox for ensuring that capitalism is restrained from following its worst instincts.