Fellow blogger Mark Perry makes a good point. In nominal dollars, the upcoming change in the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour in 2007 to $7.25 per hour in 2009 will be a 41% increase. In real, inflation-adjusted dollars (assuming a 3.8% increase in 2008-09), it will be a 25.5% increase, and will be the largest 2-year increase in the real minimum wage in at least 50 years (see chart below — click on it for larger view).