The middle wage debate really tends to highlight that those most vocal about "business/economic understanding" don't know anything. If you pay people more money, they have more money to spend. If people have more money to spend, they buy more stuff. If people have more stuff to buy, businesses can hire more people to handle demand.
That's basic shit. And even if companies increase costs to help deal with paying higher wages initially...again, people will have more money to spend anyway.