Three Out of Four Economists Recommend Raising the Minimum Wage! A Closer Look at the Debate Surrounding Seattle\u27s Minimum Wage Ordinance

This Note will discuss the implications of a high minimum wage by examining the debate around the Seattle Ordinance with a particular focus on the IFA lawsuit. To analyze the possible impacts of the Seattle Ordinance, current and historical arguments both in support of and in opposition to minimum wage laws are considered. This Note ultimately concludes that the U.S. District Court rightly denied the IFA’s motion for a preliminary injunction, which would have frustrated Seattle’s experiment before it began. Seattle’s plan to implement a $15 minimum wage, and similar experiments, should be permitted to proceed because the problem of income inequality is sufficiently troubling, and attempts to find a solution must be afforded some latitude