A scary story about the minimum wage, heard from an American business owner.

It was about the time I went to America the other day.
There was a story that caught my attention.

As mentioned in the title, it's about the minimum wage.
By the way, for those who know America well, this might be obvious. Lol

This time, after quite a few years, I thoroughly toured the West Coast myself.
The first thing I noticed there was that prices were extremely high.
When I had breakfast, looking at the menu, the payment was usually around 1,700 yen.
And it's not like I ate anything particularly good.
Just regular toast or a common breakfast you could find anywhere.
With tips added, there were places where the total reached about 2,000 yen.

At first, I thought, 'Well, it's a hotel,' or 'Is it always like this?'
As I continued my trip, I realized that wasn't quite the case.
Even general restaurants and family restaurants had similar prices.

Somehow, prices are overwhelmingly higher than when I visited before…

When I asked a local friend at dinner, 'Are prices usually around this much?', they said, 'Yes'.
The places I had visited until then weren't particularly expensive.
For that day, we talked about something else for a while and then left the restaurant.
We ordered regular hamburgers, and I think it was probably about 10,000 yen for four people.

So, the next day, I spoke to other business owners in Santa Monica.
Apparently, there's no doubt that prices have risen in the past few years.

When I asked why prices had risen so much, they said it was due to the impact of the 'minimum wage'.
The minimum wage increased during the Obama administration.
So, in response, all stores raised the prices of their products.
Since he ran a ramen shop locally, the content was very vivid.
He said that because the minimum wage increased, and it was tough to suddenly see profits significantly decrease, they had no choice but to raise prices.
As a result, it seems the prices of many products increased.

Most likely, even if the minimum wage increases, life will be the same as before.
For those earning more than the minimum wage, have some people found themselves in a situation where prices have risen but their salaries haven't?
Simply put, it seems that tourists from overseas will decrease.
I myself also thought that it might no longer be a place I could easily visit.

There doesn't seem to be any particular negative impact on employment within the US.
Simply put, it feels like the increase in hourly wages might lead to a scramble for more experienced personnel.
What is the actual situation for people with less experience?
I got the impression that just because the minimum wage increased, it's not necessarily something to simply be happy about.

Currently, it seems there are many people in Japan hoping for an increase in the minimum wage!
However, if the minimum wage increases, prices will naturally also rise.
Whether that will turn out to be a blessing or a curse is still being debated, but it's something we won't know until we try it.
Will the entire economy be revitalized by it, or will it worsen?
By raising the minimum wage, there's even a possibility that people could become poorer.

I'm not an expert in this kind of economics, so I can't delve too deeply into it.

The only thing I can say is that it might be better to increase your income sources through your own efforts rather than hoping for a minimum wage increase.
As I've often discussed, the lifting of the ban on side jobs has become a tailwind for society, and work-life balance has also become more active.
Recently, SoftBank also lifted its ban on side jobs.
The introduction of basic income is also being considered, and simply put, things are moving towards an increase in free time and money.
Using this newfound free time to start your own business and secure income sources might be far more realistic and safer than hoping for a minimum wage increase.

Honestly, I don't know what impact changes in the minimum wage will have.
However, it is far more constructive to put effort into increasing your own income sources rather than into the effort used for that.
The minimum wage will likely be raised by more knowledgeable experts when it should be, while observing the state of the economy.
This was a little anecdote I thought of after going to America this time.
Sorry, today's content was more like my thoughts as a working adult rather than about entrepreneurship. (Laughs)