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I don't normally comment much on economics on twitter despite my academic focus on the field, but this is just nuts. DC had a median wage of ~$30/hr 15 years ago, well before the minimum wage was increased.
https://www.governing.com/archive/wage-average-median-pay-data-for-states.html https://twitter.com/HMcdoolittle/status/1350116871178215431
https://www.governing.com/archive/wage-average-median-pay-data-for-states.html https://twitter.com/HMcdoolittle/status/1350116871178215431
One of the best ways to think about the minimum wage is as a function of median wages. By that standard, the nationwide number in the US is a bit low.
https://www.hamiltonproject.org/charts/the_ration_of_minimum_to_media_full-time_wage_united_states_and_oecd_countr#:~:text=starting%20in%201960.-,The%20U.S.%20minimum%20wage%20now%20stands%20at%2038%20percent%20of,third%2Dlowest%20among%20OECD%20countries.
https://www.hamiltonproject.org/charts/the_ration_of_minimum_to_media_full-time_wage_united_states_and_oecd_countr#:~:text=starting%20in%201960.-,The%20U.S.%20minimum%20wage%20now%20stands%20at%2038%20percent%20of,third%2Dlowest%20among%20OECD%20countries.
But, notice that ~no one nationally sets a minimum at over ~60% of the median. In the US, a $15/hr national minimum would be almost 80%! And in individual states, it would be over 100%! The idea that this would not hurt a state like Mississippi is just nuts.
There isn't that much labor arbitrage that occurs inside the country anymore, at least with legal citizens. But there are still call centers, production centers, natural resource exploitation areas, that are located in lower labor cost areas in the US. Kiss those goodbye.
The big story of the US economy over the last 50 years has been how trade, environmental regulation and the centralization of gains from economic activity have disadvantaged rural areas relative to urban centers. This just doubles down on that trend.
