Workers getting higher wages is to be celebrated — this is the entire point of our having an economy. Namely, that people become better off.

So, East Fork Pottery raising its minimum wage to $22 an hour? Well done. This is also what Henry Ford did with his “$5 a day” deal. It wasn’t so that the workers could buy the cars, nor here the hand-crafted mugs and plates. Instead, this is what economists call “efficiency wages.” If you pay higher wages than others around you, then your skilled folk don’t leave, and all the good workers want the opportunity to work for you. Your hiring and training (and possibly cake for the leaving parties) costs decline, potentially by more than what your higher wages cost you.