And so for me, I would probably pay my employees 15 or more even at the starting level anyway, but it certainly has an effect on the quality of employee I can get for that (when McD pays the same).

I agree that the national business may subsidize, but be careful in getting to broad on that. Again I don't know, but I doubt that the owner of a Subway franchise in Seattle is being subsidized by the owner of a franchise in Utah. Maybe there is a credit in the franchise fees though.. The wage increase has had an effect on some small restaurants and caused some to change to no-tip rules for their servers, adding 20% built in to the menu prices.

More important is the fact that small businesses aren't (yet) fleeing the Seattle downtown to outlying cities where the minimum wage is less (but still substantially higher than the federal wage). Our lease is about to come up and I wouldn't consider moving out of the city, despite the fact that available space to lease for businesses in Seattle is at a near all time low (only 1999 was tighter, and that was after years of new supply - not the same today). It isn't the only measure of an economy, but it is one that matters a lot to me, since growth will force me into looking for new space shortly. This isn't speculation, this is real data.

I'm not trying to say this is all rosy, it isn't. Being fair, I lean left, but I also agree with some of the ideas that come from the traditional right. I just worry about some folks (on both sides) that decide to shape their projections to support the position that their "side" tells them to. I worry even more so when the actual facts on the ground are ignored in favor of speculation. Seattle's economy is doing well. That may well be IN SPITE of the wage increase, not because of it. But I have to believe on most economic measures that the wage increase has not been a "Disaster."