At least the city government there does. First, an alderman wanted to ban trans fats in all city restaurants. Now, Chicago has mandated that all big box retailers pay “a living wage” consisting of $10 an hour and $3 an hour in benefits leaving aside the fact that the average wage paid by Wal-Mart in Chicago is $11. This is a ridiculous law targeting Wal-Mart and Target that will probably only serve to drive businesses like those out to the suburbs, taking jobs and development with them.
It still boggles my mind that people, especially those on the left, hate Wal-Mart so much. If there was ever a company that helped the poor, it’s Wal-Mart. They offer jobs, typically a lot of them, they have prices that the poor can take advantage of and they carry EVERYTHING, making one stop shopping a possibility. If the government of Chicago thinks Wal-Mart won’t either move to the suburbs or just pass these types of things right along to the consumer, they’re crazy. It’s asinine to think otherwise.
It’s always a matter of morality in these things instead of economics. It’s “wrong” to not pay a living wage. Of course, any discussion of wages has to be considered in conjunction with prices. Strangely, that never comes up.
Much more from Russell Roberts who says it a lot better than I can.