You know what a $15 minimum wage would actually be good for? Amazon.

The market does not always reward efficiency and punish inefficiency, especially when it comes to labor. Sometimes, it rewards monopolies, because they can set the price for their product.<br><br>A monopoly can and will pay its workers more than a competitive industry, if doing so is cheaper than training and losing a new hire. A $15 minimum wage would not be the first thing that kills Walmart and Target.<br><br>I also find it interesting how no one who supports a $15 minimum wage is actually a small business owner. I know plenty of people who claim to be “socially conscious” who are also small business owners. But they would never put their own business at risk for the greater good. That is absurd. I have nothing against small business owners, but you are not special. You are just someone else who decided to start their own business. And yes, most small businesses are run by people who are not financially illiterate. It is easier to live in a bubble when you are in charge of your own finances.<br><br>I do not believe that Amazon is evil. It is one of the best companies on the planet to work for. They treat their employees extremely well. I don’t even think that Amazon is the most evil tech company out there, which is a big statement from someone who loves Google. But I do think that they have a lot of power and should be regulated, not raised to a monopoly by buying and eliminating all of their competitors.<br><br>But if you want to talk about regulations, let’s talk about the Federal Reserve. Now that was an effective way to help workers. I am not a macroeconomist, so I do not understand all of the intricacies of the Federal Reserve, but I understand the basics. The Federal Reserve has the power to increase money in the economy. When they do that, businesses hire more and raise the wage. I am not saying that inflation is always good or that there are no negative effects, but it is definitely better for workers in the short term than a $15 minimum wage would be. And I do not mean short-term as in right now, but short-term as in not tested over decades.