The economic debate over the minimum wage, explained

For at least the last 25 years, labor economists have been compiling reams of evidence trying to answer one big question: Do minimum wage laws cost us jobs?

In introductory economics courses, students are typically taught that setting price floors — on milk, oil, or labor — causes supply to exceed demand. In the case of labor, what that means is that if there’s a minimum wage, employers’ demand for workers falls (because they cost more), and the supply of workers increases (because they’re promised more money) — meaning there’s...