Norm Miller, University of San Diego

NO: For essential (inelastic demand) goods, higher costs simply mean higher prices. For restaurants with discretionary demand, there will be consumer resistance to higher prices. Some will go out of business if prices are raised too high. Some fast-food places will invest in more automation replacing labor. The net result is that some workers in more efficient restaurants and higher demand locations will do better. Others will be let go. For those let go, this is a big deal.

David Ely, San Diego State University

NO: While researchers have not reached a consensus on the impact of raising the minimum wage, we should be attentive to the potential for serious negative effects, including higher fast-food prices, lower employment in the industry, and a shift toward automation. The impact will extend to other restaurants as they are pressured to match wages to retain workers. The newly created Fast Food Council has the power to increase the fast-food minimum wage beyond $20.

Ray Major, SANDAG

NO: Average profit margins for fast-food restaurants are around 5 to 8 percent. Labor represents approximately 30 percent of restaurant costs, and there is no way that they can absorb a 25 percent cost increase in labor without putting their business at risk. Costs will be passed to consumers through price increases as evidenced by $15 burger meal combos and the $6 6-inch Subway sandwich "deal." Gone are the days of the $5 footlong deal.

Caroline Freund, University of California-San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy

YES: Any resulting price increases are likely to be small. Most fast-food restaurants are in urban areas where workers are in short supply and wages already approach $20. Some individually owned franchises may find the new minimum difficult to manage, especially those in low-wage areas. Indeed, research does not find evidence of widespread price or jobs effects from recent minimum wage increases. Eventually, however, if minimum wages keep increasing rapidly, they will bite.

Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research

NO: Raising the cost of labor above the value a worker generates for an employer will reduce employment and fall hardest on those having the least skills. When the job is eliminated or never created, the workers' effective wage becomes $0. Focusing only on certain industries while allowing exemptions for some businesses distorts the labor market and will lead to unintended consequences, compounding expenses, and overwhelming the individual increase of wage rate imposed for some jobs.

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