Ira Stoll on How Raising the Minimum Wage Destroys Jobs
Many liberals dismissed the idea that a higher minimum wage would mean more workers replaced by computer screens as a bunch of right-wing propaganda. But as Ira Stoll reports, those dismissers are in for a reality check. McDonald's announced this month that it will deploy computer kiosks at 7,000 restaurants in Europe, allowing customers to place their own orders and pay by swiping their own credit card. Another restaurant chain, Panera, is deploying the computer kiosks for customers in the United States. In other words, no cash-register employee needed, whether at a minimum or a "living" wage.