When Seattle officials voted three years ago to incrementally boost the city's minimum wage up to $15 an hour, they'd hoped to improve the lives of low-income workers. Yet according to a major new study that could force economists to reassess past research on the issue, the hike has had the opposite effect.

None other than the Washington Post has published an article showing the damage an excessive minimum wage has done to low-wage earners in Seattle – people the higher wage was supposed to help. It is obvious that this would happen, and it is a shame so many people are surprised that when you raise wages too high, you take away hours and jobs.

Democrats, including most of the media, won't care about this study. They will push for a $15 minimum no matter how much harm it does. Many Democratic policies and regulations eliminate opportunities to move up the economic ladder for the poor, the young, and minorities. It does seem that Democrats are extremely happy to make a greater share of people dependent on government because they believe that it buys them votes.

On the whole, the study estimates, the average low-wage worker in the city lost $125 a month because of the hike in the minimum.

The costs to low-wage workers in Seattle outweighed the benefits by a ratio of three to one, according to the study, conducted by a group of economists at the University of Washington who were commissioned by the city. The study, published as a working paper Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, has not yet been peer reviewed.

None other than the Washington Post has published an article showing the damage an excessive minimum wage has done to low-wage earners in Seattle – people the higher wage was supposed to help. It is obvious that this would happen, and it is a shame so many people are surprised that when you raise wages too high, you take away hours and jobs.

When Seattle officials voted three years ago to incrementally boost the city's minimum wage up to $15 an hour, they'd hoped to improve the lives of low-income workers. Yet according to a major new study that could force economists to reassess past research on the issue, the hike has had the opposite effect. The costs to low-wage workers in Seattle outweighed the benefits by a ratio of three to one, according to the study, conducted by a group of economists at the University of Washington who were commissioned by the city. The study, published as a working paper Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, has not yet been peer reviewed. On the whole, the study estimates, the average low-wage worker in the city lost $125 a month because of the hike in the minimum.

Democrats, including most of the media, won't care about this study. They will push for a $15 minimum no matter how much harm it does. Many Democratic policies and regulations eliminate opportunities to move up the economic ladder for the poor, the young, and minorities. It does seem that Democrats are extremely happy to make a greater share of people dependent on government because they believe that it buys them votes.