> Why can't America look outside it's own borders and learn from what other countries have done and are doing?
The doomsaying about minimum wage increases occurs every time this is discussed in the US, and the doom fails to materialize every time. This isn't an issue about the people doing to doomsaying not learning from what other countries are doing; they are ignoring the US as much as any other country.
Its true that, if you assume no impact on spending behavior (and, therefore, on demand), minimum wage increases will be expected, in net, to make certain jobs that are currently net benefits to employers into net losses, resulting in them being eliminated, without any compensating effects.
OTOH, the contention of those that support any particular minimum wage increase is that, in the range actually proposed, the increased pay to those whose jobs remain net benefits to their employers will increase demand in sectors which drive employment less than the reduced retained employer profits will decrease demand, such that demand will be increased enough in fields with sufficient impact on employment that the benefit provided by employees working will increase enough that, while their may be shifts in the sectors of employment, net employment will not decrease.
And the facts of historical minimum wage increases have never shown the fears sold by the doomsayers being realized.