Whenever the feds or a state raise the minimum wage, it effectively outlaws employing workers who do not provide enough economic worth to justify the higher wage. Those workers are laid off and either become unemployed or move into the off-the-box economy.

Democrat Congresscritter Barbara Lee, who is running for Dianne Feinstein’s senate seat, has come out in favor of a $50/hour minimum wage.

According to the Office of Personnel Management, the average pay for a federal civil servant works out to about $40.82/hour, so Lee is suggesting a 22.5% raise for the average bureaucrat. (Federal workers in pay grades GS14 Step 3 and higher already make more than $50/hour.)

But back to the real economy …

Pretend you own Burger King franchise. How much would you have to charge for a Whopper if you were pay every employee $50/hour (that works out to $104,000/year)? How many would you have to layoff to stay in business? Could you afford to have even one employee?