Minimum Wage Laws

I think the minimum wage issue is just politics.  Wages are set by the laws of economics (mainly supply and demand) just as are all other prices, and when you price your product too high people don't buy (they go elsewhere, find substitutes, or do without).

That said, they have on occasion been found useful to deal with situations of exploitation (such as modern manifestations of slavery -- where the law doesn't have to prove abuses when all it has to do is enforce a minimum wage.  This, however, is a rare application and there are always other ways to handle it.

The idea of enforcing a "living wage" by this means is likely to be self-defeating, unless the minimum is set lower than what would have been payed anyway, as jobs are lost, automation is encouraged, businesses move elsewhere or lose out to competition not subject to the law, and the community as a whole becomes a little less economically sound.  The problem is, this sort of thing, as with rent control, usually takes years to do its damage  Frankly, I think most politicians understand all this, but they are politicians and tend to be more interested in votes than reality.