system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
If the minimum wage is raised from $7 to $15 doesn’t it immediately devalue skilled middle class jobs earning $20-$30 per hour by the same $8? What effect will this have on prices, rents, cost of living, etc?
gpt
\>  **doesn’t it immediately devalue skilled middle class jobs earning $20-$30 per hour by the same $8** 

No. Their buying power would decrease buying power somewhat, but not by the same $8. There would be an increase in payroll costs for X% of companies, where X is a good deal less than 100. The next question is would they raise prices to cover 100% of the rise in payroll, or would they find savings elsewhere?   


\> **What effect will this have on prices, rents, cost of living, etc?**   


We've already touched on this a bit. Any good or service you buy where labor is already $15/above or where the labor is done overseas shouldn't be affected. So, car prices for instance shouldn't be affected. Construction costs will go up some, although many of those jobs already pay $15/hour or better. And a min. wage might increase the prices of pre-existing economical houses, as it would create more lower-end home-buyers (this is a maybe, can't be sure that this would happen). Food prices would probably see the biggest increase, but staple foods like corn, rice, and wheat shouldn't see much increase because they're grown and harvested at such scale that labor is a near irrelevant factor.