Damien

People made the same arguments against the minimum wage and it didn't really inflate prices to any real degree. We don't really know what will happen, economics isn't an easy science. People always confidently tell you what will happen as the result of economic policy but it never quite works like that. We're told that too high taxes on the rich destroys growth because these peoples' wealth will 'trickle down' but to a large extent that doesn't happen. The rich became rich and the poor remained poor. We can put taxes up to 50% to get more income but that didn't really work either. I don't think anyone knows what will happen, even in this 'real world'.

But I think it's a good idea. If people are being paid so low that it's not worth them taking the job or they need benefits to top up their income just in order to live an 'acceptable' lifestyle then that doesn't help anyone. Yes, you could argue that you have to pay more the in store for an item (maybe) but more of your tax income in going out to these people anyway. So it isn't as simple as driving up costs for everything else.