Over the last several months, a concerted push to raise the minimum wage has grabbed headlines across the country. Several major cities recently passed minimum wage hikes, and protests by fast food workers demanding a $15 per hour minimum drew thousands.

Minimum wage advocates seek to solve a legitimate problem facing American workers. Their dollars buys less and less every year. But simply mandating employers fork over more dollars is a little like putting a band-aide on an amputation. It doesn’t do anything to address the underlying problem.

Our money is broken, and we need to fix it.

Our government’s monetary policy devalues our currency, and that means less purchasing power for you and me. Simply put, when the government debases currency, a dollar no longer buys the same amount of stuff it once did. Quantitative easing debases the currency and the Federal Reserve has engaged in the practice for years.

So, what does this have to do with wages? Well consider this. In 1964, the minimum wage stood at $1.25. To put it another way, a minimum wage worker earned five silver quarters for every hour worked. Today, you can’t even buy a cup of coffee with those five quarters.

But the melt-value of those five silver quarters today stands close to $15.

There’s your $15 per hour minimum wage.

This vividly illustrates currency debasement. In terms of purchasing power, the value of the silver remains relatively stable, but the value of a dollar shrinks. The long-term rise in the price of silver reflects this reality.

Now flip things around. It takes 60 quarters to make up the $15 minimum wage advocates want. If you paid that in 1964 silver quarters, the value of the metal would be something in the neighborhood of $175.

This demonstrates why precious metals are good investments. Silver and gold retain their value as the currency continues to debase – thus rising prices over the long-term.

In an economy with stable money, prices tend to fall, not rise. That means more purchasing power to the poor, to minimum wage workers, to those on fixed incomes, and to savers. But the government debases our currency. The politicians and central bankers claim their policies stabilize economies and protect the people from currency debasement. But in truth, these policies only enrich the politically well-connected at the expense of you and me.

Minimum wage hikes only mask the problem. We need to fix the money.

Peter Schiff is an American investment broker, author and financial commentator. He is CEO and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., a broker-dealer based in Westport, Connecticut.