Raising the minimum wage, which has been $7.25 an hour since 2009, is long overdue. A Congressional Budget Office analysis of legislation proposed by Senate Democrats reinforces this case. But the CBO raised a yellow flag. Dialing up wages at the bottom too fast and by too much would cause job loss and price increases.

The CBO estimates that gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 and pegging it to inflation would result in a net income increase totaling $333 billion ($509 billion in higher pay minus $175 billion in lost income from reduced employment) over 10 years. The effects, both positive and negative, would primarily affect lower-income people.