Minimum wage workers account for less than five percent of the workforce. These workers also have little access to much of the economy - if you're twenty grand away from buying a Buick, getting an extra grand a year isn't going to do much to lower the demand on Buicks. As others have pointed out, economies are complicated and it's a lot more than money in, money out. Consider how many minimum-wage workers are on Welfare, for example - increasing welfare disbursements should cause inflation, too. So should extending unemployment benefits. Increasing the money in circulation does increase inflation - but when people save or pay down debt, it takes money out of circulation and decreases inflation. It seems like it should - adding more water to the bucket diminishes the percentage of water. But think of it this way - adding more salt to the dough doesn't make more bread. It makes saltier bread. Some quick math: 3.6 million minimum wage workers earning $7.25/hr = $54bln 3.6 million minimum wage workers earning $8.25/hr = $62bln Increasing minimum wage $1/hr = $8bln/year Walmart profit, 2013 = $17bln Minimum wage workers employed by Walmart = 1.3 million Walmart profit if they raised the wages of their minimum wage workers by a dollar an hour: $15bln Business most likely to receive that extra dollar an hour: Walmart And the prices at Red Lobster are most likely untouched.