The state of California’s legislative analyst projects that raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, as a pending deal among political bigwigs would do, would cost taxpayers $3.6 billion more a year in government pay [Associated Press] Related: California plan an experiment that’s sure to generate interesting data, too bad it’s being conducted on real people [David Henderson] “Labor is not a commodity like bread or electronics,” moralists claim. Funny how it is subject to economic laws all the same [Coyote]

More: “The $15 minimum wage sweeping the nation might kill jobs — and that’s okay.” So now they tell us [Lydia DePillis/WaPo via Noah Rothman, Commentary] Data from Europe: Steve Hanke, Cato 2014.

Filed under: California, minimum wage