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Too high a minimum wage leads to the destruction of jobs. This article offers a brief history of this age-old statement, and it makes two observations. The first concerns the perpetual conflict between those invoking certain incontrovertible rules of economics and those making plans to improve the lot of employees.This tension has been around since the implementation of the first schemes at the start of the twentieth century, and a similar debate developed in the United States, particularly after the Second World War. The second observation is that this debate has taken a very technical turn in light of developments in economics and an increasing reliance on econometrics. However, the latest empirical studies lead to a steady reconsideration of the principle that raising the minimum wage automatically causes jobs to be lost.