Earlier this week Californian legislators reached a “landmark deal” to become the first state to proceed with a $15 minimum wage, the fifteenth to initiate minimum wage increases this year. While some California municipalities had already moved in this direction, this measure would mean a raise for one in three California workers. And in some low-wage areas still struggling post-recession,  it would mean a raise for one in two workers. But in the country’s most populous state – where the economic recovery has been almost completely a product of Silicon Valley – many fear this massive experiment will devastate already weak sectors and the general business climate, and mean major job losses for those who need jobs most.

To figure out just what the prognosis is for California, I talked with my AEI colleague Michael R. Strain.  Strain is the deputy director of economic policy studies and resident scholar at AEI, focusing on labor economics, applied microeconomics, public finance, and social policy. He publishes regularly in academic journals and policy journals,  is a regular contributor to The Washington Post, and often writes for The New York Times, National Review, The Atlantic, and other publications. Prior to AEI, he worked at the US Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University.

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