I don't agree that Walmart is subsidizing the state but I could see an angle that is similar. If the government stopped paying workers any benefits, would the

I don't agree that Walmart is subsidizing the state but I could see an angle that is similar. If the government stopped paying workers any benefits, would the cost of the worker's labor go up? If it didn't, that would indicate that employers were paying the market rate (speaking strictly from a economics perspective). I think running this experiment would confirm your argument that Jimmy would become unemployable as his market value would not increase, just his "cost". I still think minimum wage should be increased but now I'm less sure if it a good idea/solution. The elephant in the room is that jobs are going the way of the dodo bird. At some point there will be very few jobs left and the market value of labor will fall to near zero. At that point employers will have no customers either. Even if an individual employer can see that far ahead (like Henry Ford did) and raises his wages, he will be at a disadvantage to other employers who don't raise their wages. Forcing all employers to a higher minimum wage will get around that - but only for a while. Eventually those jobs will be automated and we'll be back to the no wages/no customers situation.