[Michael G.]

Image when we were in our youth that some day we would being PAYING for water.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

so here's the reasons for the cost increases:

Why McDonald's is charging $18 for a Big Mac meal; there's no relief in sight

Amid the uproar, McDonald’s franchisees say they are being financially squeezed by the rising cost of insurance, equipment and labor. “I just got my quote for my insurance and it went up by 31% and the cost of equipment is out of this world,” griped one operator who did not want to be identified.

Experts warn that fast food prices will climb even higher as minimum wage hikes are implemented across the country.
California’s $20-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers goes into effect in April.

McDonald’s and Chipotle both announced that they would be hiking the prices of menu items at Golden State locations beginning this year.


good luck to us. .

Sad that a minimum wage worker typically with no skills can make $ 20 per hour. If I owned a mcDonalds would be frantically figuring out how to replace these people with machines.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Sad that a minimum wage worker typically with no skills can make $ 20 per hour. If I owned a mcDonalds would be frantically figuring out how to replace these people with machines.

Tough policy issue. As automation becomes more prevalent, there is more and more unemployed / unskilled labor and that will lead to more idle bodies fighting for jobs in a physical way. Technology will be the death of capitalism, turning the economy into a very small camp of Asset/Information owners, and the remaining looking for manual hourly labor. . . As that progresses, if taxes aren't raised on the Asset/Information owners, there will be no way to pay for UBI, Universal basic income, and the US will enter a debt spiral, from which there will be a lot of financial damage. A debt spiral is when you have to sell debt to pay for the interest on the prior debt because you don't have enough income, the downfall of the MMT proponents.

Someone recently said that we now have vibes from 476 AD now in the USA. .
I agree. .

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Sad that a minimum wage worker typically with no skills can make $ 20 per hour. If I owned a mcDonalds would be frantically figuring out how to replace these people with machines.

$20 an hour is more than $40,000 a year! That is a lot of money for a job that requires minimal training. When I was in college, some of my classmates worked at McDonald's part time. No one considered it a career. Minimum wage jobs are not meant to be living wage jobs - or at least never used to be.

[wisbad1]

Originally Posted by Denbal82

First of all, I would want to mention that fast food prices are out of control.
I bit the price bullet and ordered a sandwich at Burger King on Bichara Blvd a few days ago. I always get a cup for water because I try not to drink anything with sugar in it and I certainly do not drink anything labeled diet because of the chemical content. The not so friendly woman behind the counter says we do not hand cups out for water anymore. Keep in mind the high menu prices and for years now the customer has to serve themselves for drinks making it less work for the employees and saving time. Are cups like a couple cents a piece? There are no other options as well. You cannot bring in your own drinks or outside cups, I'm assuming for health reasons. I'm not a big fast food person but everytime I went to one, I have always gotten a cup for water. Even after I walked out after cancelling my order, I went to another restaurant and gotten a cup for water like always.

I would avoid this restaurant. What's next, "would you like ice with your drink for 50 cents more?"

It’s because of dishonest people getting soda for free. I’ve heard people bragging about it. It’s theft plain and simple. Love BK !

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by wisbad1

It’s because of dishonest people getting soda for free. I’ve heard people bragging about it. It’s theft plain and simple. Love BK !

Um no, fountain soda margin is about 90%. . that's why one gets free refills, but that is the reason to stop dispensing free cups to discourage not paying at all. .

insurance, equipment and labor per franchise owners. .

Arbys has the meats!

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

$20 an hour is more than $40,000 a year! That is a lot of money for a job that requires minimal training. When I was in college, some of my classmates worked at McDonald's part time. No one considered it a career. Minimum wage jobs are not meant to be living wage jobs - or at least never used to be.

$20,000 - 30,000 is a living wage in many places, just not all places. . Remember that is CA which has the $20/hr rate.

I guess you aren't familiar with the loss of the middle income over the last 20 + years due to automation, which means they go to low income, which means that there are more people for fewer jobs, in both high income and low income, and definitely too many people for too few jobs in middle income. .

referencing 40 year old economics doesn't relate to today's economics. . . .

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

$20 an hour is more than $40,000 a year! That is a lot of money for a job that requires minimal training. When I was in college, some of my classmates worked at McDonald's part time. No one considered it a career. Minimum wage jobs are not meant to be living wage jobs - or at least never used to be.

Agreed. People make $ 20 per hour and will not have an incentive to get a better job and improve their lot in life.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

$20,000 - 30,000 is a living wage in many places, just not all places. . Remember that is CA which has the $20/hr rate.

I guess you aren't familiar with the loss of the middle income over the last 20 + years due to automation, which means they go to low income, which means that there are more people for fewer jobs, in both high income and low income, and definitely too many people for too few jobs in middle income. .

referencing 40 year old economics doesn't relate to today's economics. . . .

Your overlooking something important IMHO. Back during the industrial revolution people said machines will replace people and enough jobs were created to prevent that from happening.

Automation will create new industries and jobs in a way that nobody really understands yet.

As Yogi Berra might have said, what goes around comes around.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

We still have inflation but we have a lower rate of inflation. The goal of the fed is not to have no inflation but to have 2%.

Prices will not come down overall but will go up more gradually.

It doesn't really matter if the prices go up more slowly; inflation is cumulative. The damage has been done.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580

It amazes me how many people don't understand inflation. The only way to not have inflation is for the world to become totally stagnant. Nothing new, ever. Zero growth. Zero improvement. Tomorrow the same as today. Today same as yesterday, and the day before, as far back as forever.
Inflation is one sign of advancement or improvement. "New and improved" costs more to produce. Therefore it will cost more. Greater population means greater demand for everything. Everything will cost more. It isn't just here, it effects the whole world. It is a fact of life.
PS. And as for BK, I was never a fan. I was also creeper out by the King.

Oh the irony. So many fallacies. Inflation is not caused by innovation, it's caused by too many dollars chasing the same amount of goods, and printing money exacerbates that phenomenon. Some of that is due to the pandemic, supply chains, etc, but an even bigger component is all the money printing to pay for foreign wars, support migrants and other programs.

As far as 'new and improved' costing more, that's not necessarily true. The price of flat screen TVs keep dropping. It's mostly energy and food (the two things we can't live without) that are going up exponentially.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

Tough policy issue. As automation becomes more prevalent, there is more and more unemployed / unskilled labor and that will lead to more idle bodies fighting for jobs in a physical way. Technology will be the death of capitalism, turning the economy into a very small camp of Asset/Information owners, and the remaining looking for manual hourly labor. . . As that progresses, if taxes aren't raised on the Asset/Information owners, there will be no way to pay for UBI, Universal basic income, and the US will enter a debt spiral, from which there will be a lot of financial damage. A debt spiral is when you have to sell debt to pay for the interest on the prior debt because you don't have enough income, the downfall of the MMT proponents.

Someone recently said that we now have vibes from 476 AD now in the USA. .
I agree. .

Technology always improves our standard of living. Some jobs are lost, but new jobs are created.

Minimum wage laws are always counter-productive to the people those laws are purportedly aiming to help. If $20 is "good", why isn't $25 better? Or $30?Employers aren't going to pay someone $20/hour to do something that is valued at $13. They will find a way to automate, consolidate, or eliminate. Otherwise, they go out of business. If McD raises its prices enough to cover the additional labor costs, less people will eat there. It's a death spiral.

UBI is nonsense. There is already UBI in the form of EBT, SNAP, section 8 housing, Obamacare subsidies, Medicaid, free chid care, free cell phones, nearly free broadband wifi. link to a more complete list
I have read reports of people getting total govt transfers in the equivalent of more than $60,000 per year, income tax free.

[Keefelane66]

Free water and about 6 packs or squirts of ketchup = tomato juice

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Pugchief

Oh the irony. So many fallacies. Inflation is not caused by innovation, it's caused by too many dollars chasing the same amount of goods, and printing money exacerbates that phenomenon. Some of that is due to the pandemic, supply chains, etc, but an even bigger component is all the money printing to pay for foreign wars, support migrants and other programs.

As far as 'new and improved' costing more, that's not necessarily true. The price of flat screen TVs keep dropping. It's mostly energy and food (the two things we can't live without) that are going up exponentially.

Look beyond the surface. Certain items may may get cheaper (temporarily) due to new and improved (cheaper and more efficient production or out dated tech) but the profit margin for the producer still grows. That is only one of thousands of factor that contribute to inflation. As far as food and energy goes, supply and demand still holds true. Food and energy production and distribution costs go up. Cost at the store, restaurant and pump goes up. It's a vicious cycle. Nobody likes it, but it is a fact of life, like getting old. Anyone check the price of a new buggy whip lately?

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Pugchief

I have read reports of people getting total govt transfers in the equivalent of more than $60,000 per year, income tax free.

yes, the transfers are called social security, are you participating?

And the technology improvement will work until it doesn't, like horse drawn buggies, typewriters and slide rulers . . maybe not in our life time, but most definitely in the future.

is easy to go forward, its much harder to go backwards