On April 1, 2024 California bill AB 1228 went into effect, raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour for fast food restaurant workers. The media pundits largely celebrated the bill’s boldness. Economists and industry insiders largely complained it would raise prices, lower employment, and maybe even radically diminish a convenient and beloved fixture in American society.A new study from the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley has attempted to empirically resolve the debate. The researchers—Michael Reich and his graduate research assistant Denis Sosinskiy—conclude that fast food prices in California have barely risen beyond other states and that employment has not taken a hit. In other words, the legislation (which has created the highest minimum wage in the country)

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