I don't think that any of this is supply and demand. Basically because there is no demand right now. Minimums can be set at any number, but when no one is hiring, what does it matter???

Here is what I think is going on. The current trend of increased mins is just posturing to the public outrage. Management at the Regionals know that the Congressional Hearings are coming. They are anticipating that one of the criticisms will be the hiring of low time pilots. They know that they will be asked about it and now they be able to say, "look at our minimums. We took the initiative to raise them on our own." Congress and the FAA will think this is sufficient and they will not change any regulations.

By the time anybody is hiring again, all of the concern about the Regional Airline's safety will have blown over. Since no knew regulations will have been imposed on the industry, minimums will be able to go right back down to where they were.