This, my friends, is a result of what I call The Vicious Circle of Inflation. People always love to say inflation is good, and really, that's just bullshit. In fact, it shouldn't even be called inflation, since it's not that goods have more value. Nope, it's actually your money has less value. As they say, the same amount of gold that could buy you a really good suit in the past, will still buy you a really good suit, today. However, the same isn't true for the $50 you spent decades ago on said suit.
There are several things that add to this, but the largest contributor is the government and its poor policies. This includes printing money to cover some debts and, most importantly, over regulating and adding unnecessary new taxes onto companies. Now, some on the left will say, "Yes, those big, greedy companies deserve to pay more money than they already are." Of course, they don't take the time to think about the consequences. What happens is that these new regulations that the companies, large and small, must now meet and the new taxes that they have to pay affect not only their bottom dollar, but also their ability to expand. When that happens, companies pass these new costs onto the customers in the form of higher prices. They may also cut hours/wages, or even jobs, in lieu of (or sometimes even in conjunction with) charging higher prices.
What you have, now, are unhappy employees who are missing pay and/or people who can no longer afford to purchase products they once enjoyed (of course, many of these purchases are not necessities.) Well, the government could always go through and see what taxes are just and what regulations are 100% needed for safety, as they caused the problem, therefore taking this new burden off of companies. Of course, the government never likes to admit mistakes. In fact, they do the exact opposite, and pass more taxes and regulations almost yearly. But, to help out the employees/citizens, they increase minimum wage. In their mind, this means more money in those people's pockets and therefore things will go back to the way they were. Of course, what they just did was devalue the money, as now you need more to buy the same thing. It also has a funny affect of adding to the companies costs, again, on top of the taxes and regulations, which starts this funny little cycle all over again.
Sadly, you also have a changing mindset in America, probably worldwide, as well. People think they deserve more for doing less. This wasn't always the case. Before, people recognized minimum wage jobs were mostly meant for starting teenagers, either as a starting point to them becoming something greater or as a temporary job while they finished school. Now, we have people who think they should be able to make a decent living, and even raise a large family, flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant. What they don't realize is that, yes, they will go up to $15 an hour, BUT the prices of EVERYTHING will go up to reflect the change in wage, the increased cost of business. So, you can say goodbye to the "Dollar Menu," and say hi to the "3 Buck Menu."
And do you know who this hurts the most? The low to mid range of the middle class, who are already making ~$15+ an hour. Are they going to get a ~$7-$8 raise to reflect the change to minimum wage and prices going up? Fuck no. Businesses won't be able to afford a raise like that across the board. If they are lucky they may get $1-$2, MAYBE $3, raises. Which means, they may be doing alright, now, but once the change takes place, they are going to be struggling. They will have to budget themselves and buy less, which in turn, hurts the economy. And I wouldn't be surprised if some smaller businesses decide they have made enough money and just close down shop, which isn't what our job market needs right now, either. It's also something I'm sure those that despise mega corporations will just "love," since they will probably be some of the few who can still afford to do business.
