Lost in the coverage of the presidential and congressional elections is any mention that 35 states will also vote on 157 different statewide ballot proposals. Four will vote on proposals to raise their hourly minimum wage. Arizona, Colorado and Maine are pondering $12 an hour, while Washington may go for $13.50, which would be the highest anywhere.

It’s remarkable to think that people really believe the value of work can be decided by a vote rather than by basic economics. Wishing that something was true does not make it so. Voting is rather the same. People going to cast their ballots in those four states might persuade themselves that hiking the minimum wage will make life better, but a new study concludes 290,000 jobs will be destroyed if they do so.