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500,000 x $1.20 x 40 x 52 = $1.2 B per year in post-tax wages. This goes directly to the economy. That is good in a way.

The only downside in the states is that most of the income of service sector employees go for the rent; in that sense, most of this goes to landlords, etc. Rentier capitalism (extratcing rents) is the major driver of how the rich makes money in the states.

I'm not sure the landlords will get anymore than they already do; that's a fixed cost.

Also, some portion of this will come right back to them, as it means employees have more money to buy their goods with.

I would not be surprised if they did this from pressure on their terms for fear of being forced into it. Or maybe they all of a sudden started caring about their workers.

Still, I hope it helps them.

this will put a lot of pressure on other employers, in particular small restaurants and the like who will need to match it or take whose left.
>Also, some portion of this will come right back to them, as it means employees have more money to buy their goods with.

I wonder if Fordism is coming back into style?

Doubtful. Wal-Mart would have no problem finding customers regardless of the purchasing power of its employees.

This is just an attempt to counter bad PR by paying their employees only slightly more than as little as possible. It's still a terrible wage.

Don't disagree with you there.