Burrito economics: Republican claims about price rises are so much hot air

So if you are allowing a free supply & demand market for executive pay then what is wrong in allowing a free supply & demand market for worker pay?
Unfettered capitalism is like a moth, a flame, and the inevitable conclusion.

The question should be how to regulate. Not if.
 
Unfettered capitalism is like a moth and a flame.

The question should be how to regulate. Not if.

Regulations for safety and related stuff I support. I support child labor laws. I even support some form of a minimum wage.

But the movement now -- including the idiotic article from the Guardian -- that somehow blames worker woes on high executive pay is simply stupid. Likewise the movement to magically define a "livable" wage and demand it be paid-- which is usually many times what the labor is economically worth (meaning any company will go bankrupt paying it) -- is equally absurd.
 
Regulations for safety and related stuff I support. I support child labor laws. I even support some form of a minimum wage.
If it is at least a living wage, then we're all set.

But the movement now -- including the idiotic article from the Guardian -- that somehow blames worker woes on high executive pay is simply stupid.
I thought you were the economics guy. Economics essentially comes down to the efficient allocation of scarce resources. If the executives are hogging it, from where will living wages magically appear?

Fascinating how you hold the little guy barely scraping by in contempt while siding with the so misunderstood executives raking in barrels of the stuff, relatively speaking.

Likewise the movement to magically define a "livable" wage and demand it be paid-- which is usually many times what the labor is economically worth (meaning any company will go bankrupt paying it) -- is equally absurd.
And do you really believe the executive pay these days is anywhere near justifiable? Assholes getting multimillion dollar golden handshakes and parachutes for running their companies into the ground or into deep financial trouble? Musical chair executive board members voting excessive salaries for one another? (The Invisible Hands that scratch each other's backs.)
 
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So the free market is not perfect after all.

Never said it was. But the government stepping into the wage market and artificially altering it by paying loads of free money for people to stay at home while businesses need workers is simply no sustainable ... and needs to stop.
 
Well then you can address it in multiple ways:
  • Setting the minimum wage higher. But now that many businesses are paying $15 per hour -- the advocates are demanding $22 or more per hour. Where does this stop. Your burger will soon be $35 and most of the neighborhood businesses will go under.
  • Providing universal health care so people don't need to worry about medical expenses (Yes, Obamacare was a fiasco. Either adopt a public plan or don't do anything at all).
  • Paying rent subsidies, food subsidies, and other benefits to lower income people. (We are already doing this).

I say let them fight it out. For too long the government has been under the thumb of employers and not for employees. It’s good there is a shift away from employers.

As to wages, again let the fight happen. Raise the minimum wage to something halfway workable and let employers and employees fight it out. If employees can get $22 an hour good for them. The minimum wage won’t be anywhere near there though.

And yes getting the working poor higher wages will reduce government participation in programs such as food and rental assistance.
 
Not sure a shitty burrito should cost $8 if you want axctual quality and not food poisoning...


Also what is this bullshit that fast food joints cannot raise prices on their food if they pay workers more????

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chip...lyst-sees-the-stock-surging-30-105817748.html

Oh shit!

Chipotle said last week it recently raised menu prices by 4% to compensate for higher labor costs, fueled in large part by worker shortages sweeping across the country. It's an issue Chipotle has chosen to address by lifting the average hourly wage for workers to $15 an hour, explained Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol on Yahoo Finance Live.

"So, we can pass that through. So, it feels like the right thing at the right time," Chipotle CFO Jack Hartung told analysts at a Baird conference.

Chipotle hiked prices on digital-only orders earlier this year.

But despite the latest menu price increase, Chipotle isn't showing any signs of losing customers who are upset with having to pay more for a burrito or salad bowl. Actually it's quite the contrary, as suggested in Vaccaro's note and others seen by Yahoo Finance lately. With people becoming more mobile after getting their COVID-19 vaccine, they are packing out Chipotle (and other fast food restaurants) locations for lunch and dinner.
 
^the above is absurd and shows just how disconnected some people are from the working class of America.

I say let the unemployment continue until wages rise or some of these businesses that look to squeeze workers go out of business.

The working poor are suffering in poverty and it needs to be addressed.
What a loser

No doubt in my mind you grew up poor and you think this country owes you what your parents couldn’t give you

Sad that hourly losers such as yourself think you need to be paid not by the value you add but “by what’s fair”.

You know what’s fair? Getting paid proportionality to the problem you solve
 
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