‘Would You Like Lies with That?’ Getting ‘Equity’ and ‘Social Justice’ from the Price of Cheeseburgers

Commentary California raised the minimum wage by 25 percent, to $20 an hour, for some fast-food chain restaurant workers on April 1. The raise came, appropriately, on April Fool’s Day. That’s because many of those same workers who thought they were getting a generous raise will likely soon get nothing near that. Instead, some will get unemployment benefits when their employers cut back staff. And only certain fast-food workers at big chains will actually get the raise. That’s an “April fool!” from the California state legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom. Mandates and ‘Good Intentions’ California’s legislative houses, the Assembly and the Senate, have been dominated by Democrats for at least 30 years. In recent years, those bodies have imposed multiple mandates for the environment, business, and daily life. Many of the edicts handed down from Sacramento epitomize the phrase, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” It’s no surprise that California’s multiple unfunded mandates, its high taxes, and its onerous regulatory regime have led to an exodus of the state’s population to other states. This month’s new fast-food wage mandate, though, is particularly cruel, because it will likely result in layoffs of lower-income workers as well as higher consumer prices for meals eaten away from home. Inflation in that category, that had, traditionally, been on par with the rest of the economy, has well exceeded it since the financial crisis of 2008–09 (see the graph below). ...