NEW YORK TIMES: On a recent afternoon, Hampus Elofsson ended his 40-hour workweek at a Burger King and prepared for a movie and beer with friends. He had paid his rent and all his bills, stashed away some savings, yet still had money for nights out.
That is because he earns the equivalent of $20 an hour — the base wage for fast-food workers throughout Denmark and two and a half times what many fast-food workers earn in the United States…
“We see from Denmark that it’s possible to run a profitable fast-food business while paying workers these kinds of wages,” said John Schmitt, an economist at the Center for Economic Policy Research, a liberal think tank in Washington… (more)
EDITOR: If everyone had to pay $12 an hour, we don’t think that companies would suffer by having to pay that as a minimum wage. At the margin a few will go under, but others businesses will flourish because of the greater consumer spending.
