Economists will often tell you that raising the minimum wage above a certain level, or granting general employment benefits over a certain point, results in a net loss of total employment.
This is because there are many jobs whose value may be exceeded by the wage being charged to do them. At some point, employers will choose to do it themselves, leave it undone, or invest in a mechanized solution and do away with the expensive employee and his benefits.
The result is that the least employable individuals end up chronically unemployed and total unemployment rates go way up. Meanwhile, the remaining employed population shows big gains in productivity measures: partially because of the increased investment in automation, but mostly because the missing low skilled workers no longer pull down the average.
This is France and French total productivity. I am not sure this is a good thing. Are you?
