Analytical Amazon

In an attempt to attract workers in a tight labor market, soothe both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, and raise payroll costs for competitors, Amazon is raising its minimum wage to $15/hour. Assuming they have 300,000 affected workers (and excluding offsetting moves to reduce labor costs elsewhere by, say, reducing bonuses), the wage boost will reduce fast-growing corporate profits by a one-time, non-trivial $1.5 billion/year. Avoiding congressional legislative wrath, priceless!