Minneapolis’s High Minimum Wage Claims More Victims

Whiskey Junction has been Minneapolis watering hole since the 1880s, but no longer: the bar is closing at the end of this month. The Pioneer Press reports:

Owner Tom O’Shea announced the closure on Facebook, citing the city’s recent minimum wage increase, which was passed earlier this year.

A portion of his post reads, “Unfortunately, after recent changes in the Minneapolis ordinances regarding minimum wages and primarily the lack of a tip credit provision, we feel now is the time to get out of the bar business. We fought for a voice to explain how minimum wage without a tip credit will be detrimental to the small bar and restaurant owners of Minneapolis but we were not listened to. Therefore its on to the next adventure!”

A minimum wage does no harm as long as it is set at or below the wage that is actually being paid to entry-level employees. If the minimum wage is raised above that level, as has happened in Minneapolis, it will cost some workers their jobs and destroy some businesses. This is an old lesson for some reason, liberals never seem to learn.