I'm curious to see if this only grows worse given the continued automation of industries like manufacturing that have traditionally been the backbone of the American middle class during the 20th century. Not so much that jobs won't be there, but they will require more advanced skills and less employees, thanks to "software eating the world."<p>Building the case for raising the minimum wage is an interesting one to be viewed objectively (not that it ever is), but I think it's also too early to tell with Seattle what the long-term outcomes are.
As a local Seattleite, this is the first logical explanation I've heard for a $15 minimum wage, and it has given me a reason to change my mind on the policy. I don't know how it will play out (I don't think anyone does), but I hope he's right.