> Baristas will earn, depending on market and tenure, from $15 to $23 per hour, it said.

Not sure how much that'll influence the cost of living in places where it's effectively implemented. In places like the Bay Area it didn't serve the majority people since the real estate market has gone crazy, and as a consequence people resorted to living far outside the city centre. I've seen a documentary where a mother in California useed to commute 3 hours each way, leaving her home at 5am and returning at 8pm. And she was not even a white collar job.

Too bad inflation has already eaten it all in rent, gas, and food costs. Probably the only reason we have a worker shortage is that existing wages were so low they didn't even cover twice the cost of gas getting to and from work. Add to that the fact that new and used cars are getting more expensive. At that point you can make more money selling your car and staying home.

It's unclear to me how much the author of the article is accounting for inflation.

The US inflation rate is higher than it's been in the last 10 years (maybe even longer). Yes, I agree that the power balance has changed... but in so far as inflation is part of it, then it's not all a positive power shift.