Food away from home has risen at least 0.3 percent for 34 out of the last 36 months.
Sticker Shock in California
Higher state minimum wage went into effect April 1; chains say burritos and burgers are getting more expensive in response.
The Wall Street Journal reports California Fast-Food Chains Are Now Serving Sticker Shock
Since September, when California moved to require large fast-food chains to bump up their minimum hourly pay to $20 in April, fast-food and fast-casual restaurants in California have increased prices by 10% overall, outpacing all other states, the firm found in an analysis of thousands of restaurants across 70 large chains.
Prices at Chick-fil-A, Domino’s, McDonald’s (MCD) Burger King (BKC), Pizza Hut (YUM), Jack in the Box (JACK ) and other fast-food chains have increased since September, the firm found. Chipotle (CMG) said in an investor call Wednesday that prices at its nearly 500 California restaurants climbed 6% to 7% during the first week of April compared with last year, playing out across its menu.
“The state isn’t making it easy,” Chipotle Chief Executive Brian Niccol said in an interview.
In Los Angeles on a recent April afternoon, Seth Amitin, a 39-year-old therapist, said his usual $16 meal that he picks up weekly at the Chick-fil-A in Hollywood, Calif., now costs $20. The price for a spicy chicken sandwich at that location had gone up to $7.09 from $6.29, or 13%, since mid-February, according to research by Gordon Haskett Research Advisors. Chick-fil-A’s prices increased 10.6% on average in California during that time period, Gordon Haskett found.
California restaurants already had some of the highest fast-food prices in the country, according to market-research firm Revenue Management Solutions. Every month since October, California fast-food and fast-casual restaurants have raised prices across a greater percentage of their menus compared with restaurants in the rest of the country, Datassential found.
Auto and Home, Insurance & Maintenance Costs Soaring and People Are Angry
Insurance, repairs, and maintenance costs are up for both homes and autos.
On April 19, I noted Auto and Home, Insurance & Maintenance Costs Soaring and People Are Angry
Some homeowners are skipping home insurance. What’s going on and who is to blame?
Growth in Spending Exceeds Growth in Income for Most of the Last 10 Months
A deeper dive into personal income and outlays for March shows significant signs of consumer stress to maintain standards of living.
For discussion, please see Growth in Spending Exceeds Growth in Income for Most of the Last 10 Months
Would you believe …
On April 20, I noted Truflation Claims Inflation is 2.06 Percent
Would you believe believe year-over year inflation is barely over two percent? That’s the Truflation claim as of April 17, 2024.
Some otherwise bright people on Twitter whom I follow actually believe that Trufltion nonsense. Click on the above link for details.
There is plenty of demand for Chick-fil-A. I saw a long line of cars at the drive thru mid-week. Until personal budgets are seriously challenged, people will pay higher prices for things.
The more people pay for Chick-fil-A meals – Good! It goes to workers! – the less people can pay for other things. Bastiat’s the seen and the unseen. Perhaps we will learn what people are not buying someday soon.
Just politicians trying to buy more votes. They don’t care about the side-effects as long as they think they bought enough votes to stay in power.
I want to make a point that the same order in LA is $22.10 versus $19.85 in Las Vegas Nevada. All in all 11% higher. I do feel there’s been exaggerations since the wage hike went into place. Costs in CA versus NV have always been roughly 5-10% higher. Long story short this feels as if it’s being overblown.
Following up on my previous post. If you order directly from the Chipotle website in Santa Monica CA, the price of a steak bowl with extra steak is $17.45 the exact same price as the alleged price in Nevada. You can easily verify this yourself by going to the Chipotle website and using 90401 as the zip code.
Mish, I’d like to remind you that just because somebody writes something on Twitter that it doesn’t make it true. I live in Santa Monica CA and a quick check on DoorDash shows that a steak bowl with extra steak costs $22.00 not $39.00. Oftentimes DoorDash prices are more expensive than in store prices as well. So the in store price is possibly cheaper.
Please vet the information you post here more closely
All publicly traded companies should as a condition of being traded publicly give stock options to every employee. This is where the real disparity is. And there should be a formula for all publicly traded companies to give shares equitably between individual contributors and managers/directors/gm/vp/ceos. It seems like a small fraction of people keep getting richer while thr masses get peanuts.
I’m more of the idea that job creating tax cuts should be directly reciprocal and proportional to the actual jobs created – inside the U.S.
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lol!!
The only thing I don’t understand in this whole minimum wage discussion is why $20 is the set point. I charge and receive $cdn130 an hour (in Toronto) for my work which seems a reasonable minimum for me. Then again, the government doesn’t mandate this – I guess my customers see the value.
Where did $20 come from? Come on guys, get behind your government. /s
Noting that many, like Frilton Miedman, really begrudge corporate executives making big money. …
I understand that the California’s law only applies to larger restaurant chains that have at least ‘x’ (20?) restaurants nationwide. So the last Sambos* restaurant, in Santa Barbara, is not covered, doesn’t have to pay $20/hour. All the job losses that have been reported contradicts what Mish said earlier. Those smaller onesies and small chains will be able to find workers, the ones who can’t get the $20/hour jobs at larger chains.
What I want to know, given antagonism towards bosses and corporate headquarters, is what special helps does California provide to worker co-op restaurants that have tossed out their bosses like many restaurants in Argentina have?
\* = I understand the last Sambos changed its name a year or two ago. It is no longer Sambos.
Anecdote. Cal Griffith, the last independent baseball club owner, once remarked that he makes less money than some of his star players.
To be seen how long before the $20/hour law applies to all fast-food restaurants.
You should look into the history of executive comensation – it’s an eye opener. FYI it’s nothing to do with market forces.
“Noting that many, like Frilton Miedman, really begrudge corporate executives making big money.”
I begrudge corporate executives that lobbied for lower taxes under the guise the extra money would be used for job creation, and then create the jobs in China’s cheaper labor pool, and then lobbying to cut domestic spending to offset the resulting deficit.
The Koch family is specifically vulgar in this category.
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Folks on the left usually decry the Koch family for their influence with political contributions. This is odd when they are 15th on the list of orgs that purchase politicians. Soros is #1 and 6 of the top 10 are unions (so 7 of the top 10 only purchase progressive politicians). The unions alone purchase 15 times more politicians than the Koch (Citizens United) org. But somehow most progressives don’t let the facts change their irrational anger at CU. I’m sure I could find that many progressive darlings do more of the tax cut dance than CU … but facts are not a factor in this irrationality … so it’s not worth the effort.
Soros, Holocaust survivor, lobbies for human rights causes, Koch’s lobby for lower taxes and deregulation.
But yeah, they’re almost the same.
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Fr-M- wrote “… lobbied for lower taxes … then lobbying to cut domestic spending to offset the resulting deficit.”
Leaving aside who so lobbied, it is notable that we are in that part of the Laffer curve where lower tax rates on the rich results in high tax revenue from the rich. – can’t last forever. This is documented several times in our past few decades of history.
But the political obsession against “the rich” and intent to punish them with higher tax rates never goes away.
(Neither does our rulers’ efforts to justify more government spending by funding it from taxes taken from the rich.)
(Note also that the above Laffer curve also works in reverse, higher tax rates, less tax revenue.)
Wrong, How does Musk paying 4% while you pay 3 to 5 times that rate benefit you?
I can tell you, without question, that when a local infrastructure job starts up, there is a big difference in local commerce.
I can also tell you a billionaire getting a a 10% tax cut over your rate adds to the deficit, which means reducing things like infrastructure spending in order to compensate the loss.
I’m perfectly fine with you sporting Musk’s tax bill, but count me out.
…AND YET, eating out is at an all-time high in the United States, outdoing home cooking for the first time ever last year, I believe. Its now 53% of the population eating out. They are bringing this burden on themselves. Best advice: Cook at home, cook a lot at a time, & eat the leftovers for lunch. Stew & soup especially tastes better reheated.
Yes, they are living better (even beyond their means) but still being taught to hate the rich guys with all the privileges.
If California were to change the minimum wage back to, say $12 a hour, would Chipotle and other restaurants drop the prices?
Chicken & pork prices are back to pre-Covid, yet beef is still insane.
The U.S. beef industry is 85% owned by 4 companies, one of those is Brazilian owned.
I suspect this is related – “New Price-fixing Suit Aimed at Big 4 Beef Packers” –
link to drovers.com
Illegals should have a $50 an hour minimum wage, so as to discourage people from hiring them. It is counter intuitive but it just might stem the tide at the border. Employers would be sure to E Verify.
Many coming thru the border are not here to work. Many that are will work under the table to avoid entitlement cuts. The rest will become valuable to whatever area they live in.
What matters more to me is whether California restaurants are closing in significant numbers because of rising labor costs.
Some are. But most around me haven’t raised prices or come up with creative ways to keep prices flat.
Here in California, my good friend who is Mexican is the head cook at the Chinese Restaurant. My other good friend who is Mexican is the head cook at the Italian Restaurant. Does that tell you anything ????
In Paris I bought two big Macs for 12euros. The next day I bought a full meal ( salade, Bœuf bourguignon and desert) in a brasserie on the Left Bank for 22 euros. Junk food is more expensive than good food now everywhere so let them go out of business.
Here’s the upcoming solution to replacing all fast food workers. This robot is freaking amazing!
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Astribot S1: Hello World!
Apr 25, 2024
Meet Astribot S1: the Next-Gen AI Robot.
link to youtube.com
link to newatlas.com
I have seen endless robot videos and I keep asking the question, when are they getting deployed? And the answer is crickets.
Here is the fundamental problem with every robot, it needs to be programmed and will only do what it’s programmed to do. You can’t take that robot in the video and ask it to go clean the toilet because someone just puked in there. It won’t know how to do that unless it’s programmed to do so.
I can imagine “business man” investing $30k on a robot with the promise of huge labor savings. Business man buys robot for his bar. Robots does great at making mixed drinks and serving beer except now you have a drunk patron that starts teasing/taunting the robot by asking for impossible drinks. In the meantime, some fat slob just clogged the toilet and it needs to be fixed.
With a human, the boss just says, “go unclog the toilet to the bartender or waiter or “f**k off” to the drunk teaser.
Meanwhile the business man will be hit with subscription fees, cybersecurity upgrades and patches, maintenance fees, help desk fees, and other made up charges designed to extract maximum profit.
And if these robots are anything like Elon’s self driving cars then you can expect these robots to eventually burn down the place or poison someone.
Twice I’ve agreed with you in the last week. Hmmmm 😎
I have seen a robot in a Mexican restaurant and a pizza restaurant in last 6 months. Both delivered water to our table when we arrived. The Mexi place also delivered chips n salsa.
A regular server took care of us for everything else. So it appears there is a limited use case??? Like you, anything more complex like your various toilet examples and any special order/circumstance is just too much. And I am not sure about the financial breakeven/advantage if it’s just a simple augmented piece to the overall labor equation
The easiest robot job I can imagine is rough neck on a well rig. The work is repetitive. Time between pipe sections is time to recharge the robot from a Diesel generator. Pay is high compared to a robot. Recruitment is difficult. Robots haven’t done it yet.
The robots are deployed widely in the prepared foods industry. It is simply more difficult to put the same automation in a restaurant compared to a manufacturing facility. It will likely happen, but if it doesn’t soon, the difference between a 30 dollar, then 35 dollar, then 40 dollar restaurant meal, vs. a 5 dollar frozen meal, will force the issue.
We’ve come a long way since the Model T. Not many buggy whip makers these days. Be careful where you place your investment $$$ The future is unknowable.
These robots will be deployed at some point, but at first we will see mobile apps and kiosks replace cashiers (so now 40% of labor reduced). As cost of automation continues to drop and cost of labor continues to rise, much of the major food prep and logistics of delivery to customers will go away. The “someone puked in the men’s room” will require a person for a long time, but that is the 1% to 5% of the labor. We will see it in grocery stores too.
Amazon currently deploys 750,000 robots! That’s 750,000 jobs NOT being done by a human. UPS uses robots. BMW and other car manufacturers use robots.
There is a lot more use than many people are aware of and each robot takes away a human job. This is likely one reason why the labor participation rate is on a long-term decline.
You and many others are missing an important point. AI is changing the need to serially program robots for each task. With AI, they can LEARN to do a new task, just as humans do. This makes their deployment and maintenance much more easier.
The robot in the clip I posted is from a Chinese developer and is slated for commercial release later this year. China is having serious economic difficulties. I would not be surprised if they release this robot at a very low price point.
Anyone who thinks they can fix this is part of the problem.
All regulations increase costs.
If a regulation doesn’t directly and obviously improve safety or reduce toxic pollution, it should be voided.
Deregulation reduces the cost of construction – reducing rents, reduces the cost of transportation – lowering the cost of employment, reduces the cost of energy – reducing the cost of inputs to restaurants.
If you want to fight inflation, deregulation is the only option. Everything else simply shifts costs.
Upvote. Though I’d think anti competitive regulations or laws might be an exception.
“All regulations increase costs.
If a regulation doesn’t directly and obviously improve safety or reduce toxic pollution, it should be voided.”
For about ten years now there’s been a big dispute between cattle ranchers and the “big 4” beef distributors.
Tyson, Cargill, National Beef and JBS, now control 85% of the U.S. beef market.
The Ranchers have sued, repeatedly, because the “big 4” have been pricing them out, then buying the ranches as they’re about to go bankrupt.
Meanwhile, have you seen beef prices?
Hell, I can buy chicken at under $2 a pound, pork for $3, but even cheap cuts of beef are $10.
I’m thinking the Sherman Antitrust act might be a cost saving regulation.
Monopolies aren’t good.
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The FTC has been an embarrassment. Monopolies and government working in tandem, there’s a 1930s 1940s world power that thought that arrangement would work.
Exactly what is happening now.
Big tech monoploies work to spy on ad nd abuse Americans and the government uses that power in exchangr for looking the other way at their oligopoly (better term). Pick an industry where monopolistic toeholds haven’t taken hold and become very powerful, inflationary, and privacy abusing.
“The FTC has been an embarrassment. Monopolies and government working in tandem, there’s a 1930s 1940s world power that thought that arrangement would work.
Exactly what is happening now.”
I’m going to emphatically agree with this.
Except, add the SEC, CFTC and a few others.
The SEC is the worst of them, turn a blind eye to friends of wall street like Steve Cohen, but make sure the guy trading $1000 on insider info goes to jail.
Madoff, the perfect example.
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Went to see the eclipse in Arkansas. Stopped at a McDonalds for some tea. Noticed that a single hash brown was $1.99. Shocking? Well, in California they are $3.49. Just one data point.
Kalifornia is essentially a third world country. Restaurant prices are also different in Mexico. So what?
Sounds about right. Did a cross country road trip to Cali in ‘22. Cheapest gas was in Arkansas – under $3/gallon. Most expensive was in Cali – almost $7/gal.
I can get a ten pack of frozen hashbrown patties at my local grocery store for $2.99. The cost of eating out is getting out of control.
Go to Qdoba instead because they don’t charge extra for queso or guacamole. There are some locations in Cali.
The solution here isn’t to break up food monopolies or wall st speculation of grains & meats, but to do something about wages starting to match inflation for the first time in decades.
Sherman antitrust?….PFFFTT!!
If wages go up for the middle class, this makes relative wealth less valuable for the top 1% who make big campaign bribes, er, I mean.. “donations”.
Higher wages hurts trickle down, it also hurts the banking sector when hungry families don’t have to borrow money to eat.
This is all terrible, GOP think-tanks may have to hire an army of economists to draw charts to prove a booming economy is a bad economy, and, dare I say it…they may have to get Laffer to come back and draw colorful, curvaceous charts as well.
While one might conclude “supply-side” economics means bolstering supply to fight inflation, no, not at all, it means cutting taxes for the wealthiest, because, for reasons only a highly educated conservative approved economist can explain, all economic problems are solved by giving the wealthy more wealth.
That said, I think I’m ready to run for office as a Republican.
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Taxation takes away wealth. Tax cuts take away less wealth. They do not give people more wealth. They already had the wealth.
When “job creating tax cuts that pay for themselves” create the jobs outside America, the math fails.
Especially where C-suites use the savings to increase their own salaries, or stock buybacks, which increases C-suite bonuses.
As the jobs are created in China, you propose cutting domestic spending to offset the resulting deficit, spending that actually does create jobs (Albeit, government contracts or employees).
That actually is transferring wealth, unless you suggest the deficit is paid by those “job creators”, then you’re saying we all pay it.
What about rolling back every “job creating” tax cut of the last 4 decades, but exempting all taxed amounts by the proportional U.S. jobs created.
Where a Chinese engineer or programmer makes $20K per year, how many corporations will shut down shop and come home to collect their tax cuts and create jobs here?
Now you know why China’s done so well, and at the same time our deficit has exploded for the last 40 years, gotta love that trickle down!
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Restaurant jobs are not middle class jobs. They are starter jobs meant for a starting point in the workforce. Not meant for raising a family.
You got to pay a restaurant worker enough to not want to spit in your food.
I didn’t mention restaurant jobs.
Granted, that’s Mish’s topic, I’m speaking in general.
Not only is the price ridiculous, but their food really, really, really sux.
Last time I ate at crummy Chipotle was like 15 years ago. Not impressed and overpriced back then. Make a sammich and eat at home guys. You can buy a decent frozen burrito in a pinch if you’re hungry. I’m sure the white collar staff and many of their employees are woke so enjoy the consequences of Newsom and Co.
And yet more people are eating out than ever before. There is a disconnect somewhere … It could be laziness, it could be inability to match cost/taste ratio, … not sure … but more people are eating out than ever.
“California Isn’t Making It Easy”
Who ever said business was supposed to be easy? For all the whining and complaining about California minimum wage it’s actually a good thing. Why? Because it will force California businesses to optimize their offerings. They will need to learn to be more efficient with less labor.
This is something that ALL businesses from ALL states will need to learn to do as millions of boomers retire but keep putting pressure on goods and services.
Minimum wage won’t matter any more because there will be bidding wars for labor over the next decade. The “rural” states are offering hefty bounties for people to move there, you’d think that wouldn’t be necessary with “everyone leaving cities” but there is fantasy and then there is economic reality.
link to redfin.com
There’s an even great question in all this.
Where Corporate Republicans sold us the “trickle down” theory for over 4 decades, yet wage inflation causes inflation, then, what happens if 45 years of job creating tax cuts finally does trickle down?
I know the answer, I suspect you do, just illuminating the oxymoronic nature of politically motivated economic theory.
When you buy government, anything you say is fact, which is then repeated until enough voters believe it, Goebbels style.
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Let me ask: What is taxation for? Many people here etc. act like it is only for redistribution, financing what we need by taking from “the rich”. But how does that coordinate what I need and how badly I need it vs. what you need vs. who is going to provide for that need, in a fair and competent way?
And, good as taking everything from the rich sounds, how does the system(s) work when there are no more rich?
I ask Frilton Miedman to look at the specific example of Argentina. Argentina was once one of the richest per capita nations in the world Then Juan Peron, a hero of organized labor autocrat, came to power and the nation has fallen a lot in wealth and income since then.
I don’t begrudge wealth, I’m a business owner.
I do begrudge Bezos and Musk paying single digit effective rates when a working waitress & mom pays 3 times that.
I also need customers for my business, higher wages for my customers yields me more customers, while lower taxes for billionaires gets China more jobs.
Argentina inflation was sparked by excess money supply, we’ll have the same problem if we don’t get out fiscal house in order by reducing debt and increasing wages in place of debt for consumption.
Until then, the Fed has full control over middle class buying power.
We can either cut your retirement SSI, or we can increase effective tax rates on billionaires from single digits.
Median Household debt to income has doubled since 1980, you’re not going to get much from them.
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Trickle down has finally tricked down 42 years latter. Job well done DC.
“Who ever said business was supposed to be easy?”
It’s not about business not being easy, but the government making it harder for businesses. There are a lot of empty store fronts in downtown Los Angeles. A lot of it is probably fallout from the government Covid lockdowns.
“There are a lot of empty store fronts in downtown Los Angeles. “
That’s everywhere,
It has nothing to do with government or the Fed, take it up with Amazon, Netflix, Carvana, Travelocity, Booking.com & Uber.
Everything from theaters, retail outlets, travel agents, even candy stores has been replaced by online shopping.
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I would phrase it differently. In an economy where the wait staff makes nearly as much as the customers = customers hardly make more than the workers = more income equality then what products are made and offered for sale will have to be refigured so that nearly everyone can afford them. (That can include labor saving improvements. Presuming those improvements can survive inspection by Ned Ludd.)
As kiosks, mobile apps, and other forms of automation continue to cut down the work force, and we’ve recently brought in 15 million unskilled workers … we might have an issue opposite of what you are suggesting.
Restaurants, pubs, coffee shops have more leverage to increase prices anyways. After surviving covid lockdowns, some have mysteriously closed shop, and nobody else was interested renting the place. Less competition, less price pressures.
I don’t think $20 an hour is unreasonable in a state where an average house costs $800K. Don’t blame the workers for trying to keep their heads above water.
The actual cause of inflation is central bank money creation and government deficit spending. I have yet to see a protest in front of the Federal Reserve building for the mess they have created.
4 charts to glance since 1980:
Real median hourly wages
Household debt to income ratio
Government debt to GDP
CEO salaries compared to median
This tells the whole story.
It seems the advent of Reaganomics only served to increase debt, decrease wages and that’s all.
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Goodness give it a rest. Clinton 8 years. Obama 8 years. Biden 4 years. Your focus on Republicans and Reaganomics is silly. As if the 20 years of Democratic leadership isn’t equally to blame for this mess. As if Reagan put such an intractable political and economic structure in place that 40 years of governance since have been mere pawns. Interestingly if you’re paying attention the monied elite, power center big tech, 3 letter agencies, dc, MSM, are primarily Democrat. Might want to get out of the 80s and notice that.
This inflation caused by creating debt for decades off the gold standard at a pace since 2013 issuing Treasurys rising 6.5% compounded annually is creating massive distortions. I’ve never been less hopeful.
But you cannot keep saying reaganomics, that dog don’t hunt.
“But you cannot keep saying reaganomics, that dog don’t hunt.”
It’s been hunting for 45 years and continues, unless you can explain the parabolic spike in household/government debt, flattening of real wages & quadrupling of executive salaries all starting in 1980.
The problem is the residual compounding interest on that debt, Republicans, rather than admit its failure, insist on spending cuts rather than rescind the tax cuts that have most billionaires paying single digit effective rates.
We have not been given the reciprocal jobs promised, China definitely has and that doesn’t help us.
Any cuts result in job losses, albeit government contractors or workers, they’re still jobs, they still affect you personally whether you admit or not,
You’re stuck with this economy, spending cuts affect you, not some distant liberal cave hiding your nemesis Socialists.
Reagan increased the GNP tremendously. Any reason you ignore that…it doesn’t fit your Reagan Derangement Syndrome mind?
Frilton Miedman misses the 20% mortgage rates and gasoline lines 3 blocks long that Jimmy Carter gave us.
I remember $145 oil under Bush, and a subprime crash that nearly ended America as we know it, thanks to deregulating banks.
I also remember the only budget surplus we’ve had since Reagan, under Clinton
Have no fear though, because “deficits don’t matter”.
I mean, that’s cool. We just don’t go to McDonalds anymore. My kids used to love Fillet O fish sandwiches. We got two, Two fries and a drink. It was $32.
My 12 year old was like, well. . .next time let’s just make it at home. . . Because she knows how and knows the value of money.
The outcome here is the workers don’t get the money and we get to spend more time together making better food for us.
I win. Workers lose again.
“We believe in a strong dollar.” “Subprime is contained.” “The vaccine is safe and effective.” “Inflation is transitory.” “Bidenomics is working.”
You forgot Nancy Pelosi…Congress “[has] to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it, away from the fog of controversy.”
I would add, “the banking system is sound and resilient where as climate change is an ‘existential’ crises”. ~ Janet Yellen
The base cost for a bowl with the double steak 2675 El Camino Palo Alto CA Chipotle is 17.50; add an extra 2.50 if you want guacamole. The minimum wage must be a lot higher in Los Angeles.
No one cares about Kaliforna, least of all the people who voted to make it into a 3rd world sh!thole.
You don’t make it to the USOpen or the World Cup by comparing yourself to weekend warriors at the local community tennis center / soccer club. And you don’t get ahead economically comparing yourself to a marxist state.
Yeah I wasn’t really buying that $39 comment.. the more important point was everything is more expensive here in California.. I suspect a little exaggeration there
California’s new minimum wage law = Just what honest lefties, and greenies, want.
Labor should be more valuable, for the services provided or for merely existing, than the products, doo-dads or gee-gaws that it provides.
And it is time for customers recognize that, and adjust their spending to honor the labor ahead of the product. Pay more for the burger and less for other things at other stores. Downsize the menu choice, a smaller burger or choose a rice bowl instead, or bring your own bowl of rice and beans for lunch.
-> All for honoring the worker, and having less of a footprint on the planet. (/sarc?)
Perfect. Better a minimun wage of 10.000 dollars/hour and a menu at 10.000 dollars a cheeseburger.
That inflation honors the workers? It seems some people think so.
Me n’ some friends were at the sock-hop the other night and one o’ them liberal types showed up with a new fangled “phone” thingy in his hand, damned Liberals n’ they’re expensive worthless trinkets.
I mean that’s cool, but the point of McDonalds was to make it so more uneducated people could do the work. Where will all those people go when I don’t buy bad food?
Trump University, fer a quality ejucashun in 4-d chess.
I gotta upvote you for that one which is a one time event so far. That was pretty funny.
California, Chicago and NYC all went marxist in practice, even if they tried to label it something else.
California, Chicago and NYC are all failing economically, because that is what happens to all marxist regimes with no exceptions.
Soon we will have some marxist apologist try to explain how Gavin Newsome didn’t do marxism correctly and that is why his version of marxism didn’t work. Same for Deblasio / Adams in NYC. Same for a long list of marxists in Chicago.
marxism and socialism are the same stupid idea. Calling it Bolivar-ism or Soros-ism or Mao-ism … its the same failed idea. It doesn’t work in Latin America. It doesn’t work in Africa. It doesn’nt work in Asia. It doesn’t work in Europe… and it should not be a surprise that it fails in North America just like it fails everywhere else.
Mao-ism nearly destroyed a 10,000 year old civilization in China. If Deng Xao Peng hadn’t implemented capitalism (under a different name), China was about to fail. Xi seems to be trying to wreck the place again, reverting back to failed ideas.
The Soviets nearly destroyed Russia with their socialist / marxist rubbish, while “Putin’s reforms” look like capitalism, walk like capitalism and quacks like capitalism.
California filled their wilderness areas with chain smoking “nature lovers” and kindling, and somehow they are surprised the kindling is catching fire? Exactly how many UCLA, Berkley, Stanford PhDs will it take to work this out? While we wait, insurance companies are saying they will not cover arson just because the arson is committed under the guise of a “green new deal”.
California went marxist, and it now has a marxist economy. DUH!!!!
“California, Chicago and NYC all went marxist in practice, even if they tried to label it something else.”
They’re a huge problem, especially with all the entitlement spending on those greedy have-not baby-boomers retiring.
Retirement age should be raised to 90, let’s solve this Marxist spending problem now!
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In marxist countries, there is no retirement. You work until you die
California, Chicago and NYC all went marxist in practice, even if they tried to label it something else.
California, Chicago and NYC are all failing economically, because that is what happens to all marxist regimes with no exceptions.
Soon we will have some marxist apologist try to explain how Gavin Newsome didn’t do marxism correctly and that is why his version of marxism didn’t work. Same for Deblasio / Adams in NYC. Same for a long list of marxists in Chicago.
marxism and socialism are the same stupid idea. Calling it Bolivar-ism or Soros-ism or Mao-ism … its the same failed idea. It doesn’t work in Latin America. It doesn’t work in Africa. It doesn’nt work in Asia. It doesn’t work in Europe… and it should not be a surprise that it fails in North America just like it fails everywhere else.
Mao-ism nearly destroyed a 10,000 year old civilization in China. If Deng Xao Peng hadn’t implemented capitalism under a new name, it was about to fail. Xi seems to be trying to wreck the place again.
The Soviets nearly destroyed Russia, and “Putin’s reforms” look like capitalism, walk like capitalism and quacks like capitalism.
California filled their wilderness areas with chain smoking “nature lovers” and kindling, and somehow they are surprised the kindling is catching fire? Exactly how many UCLA, Berkley, Stanford PhDs will it take to work this out? While we wait, insurance companies are saying they will not cover arson just because the arson is committed under the guise of a “green new deal”.
California went marxist, and it now has a marxist economy. DUH!!!!
In-N-Out in low cost Tucson pays $18.50 to start and up to $22.00/hr. They don’t appear to have raised their prices significantly.
I had to upvote you bud, 2 downvotes and all you did was make a firsthand observation they don’t want to hear.
Have a look at that Chipotle thread. Several Californians showing screenshots that the same item is around $20 for pick up at their local Chipotle. CA sux, but no hyperbole necessary to make the point.
I responded to another comment that I thought the $39 for a double stake was an exaggeration and I’m certain it is.. however I remember not too many years ago you can get a $5 footlong for lunch.. now when I stop anywhere it’s routinely 15 to $20 for a sandwich or burrito lunch somewhere.. I really try to pack a lunch because you do the math that’s crazy expensive for one meal everyday especially us working class stiffs.. but hey you’re supposed to be able to support a family on a fast food job nowadays I guess.. when we had sanity everybody realized this was an entry level job for young people not a means to support a family of four..
I hear you. McDonald’s value meal I was getting 20 years ago for $3 is now $10. No way overall inflation has been 3x over the last 20 years. My daily food bill is about what a Chipotle burrito would cost. Unless I’m on vacation, no way I’m spending that for one meal.
Urban dwellers are the ones most directly impacted by cumulative inflation over past several years.
If a persons whole lifestyle is dependent upon purchasing goods and services from someone else then the Piper is going to have to get paid.
If residence is in suburbs where there is some land, even if a small piece and a person has some hands on ability, adjusting to rising prices becomes a game of learning new skills.
If you are out in a rural area then that person already has the means to deal with whatever comes their way.
So it is Urban dwellers who are getting a most rude awakening. Interesting to see if they abandon their Urban lifestyle for some peace of mind in countryside or higher personal standard of living in Suburbs. There is no quick cure for this. Am expecting demographic shift out of cities for those not trapped to continue.
Can some of the exodus from cities get stemmed by next administration? Depends upon who gets in. Lower energy costs would take some heat off price increases. More however must get done to lower cost of government edicts so small business which is always real source of innovation will be able to contribute.
People are learning political rhetoric to achieve a feel good moment is not the same as doing actual work to solve problems.
My wife makes my lunch every day. I don’t eat overpriced high calorie fast food garbage. I am from MI and it seems like everyone is obese starting in the teens. What a waste of cash and slowly ruining your health. I don’t get it.
I confess to having the need every now and then for the Salt and Sugar rush of fast food.
But nothing is better then Home cooked meals. Price is good also. Maybe $5-6 bucks per day, three meals with leftovers if one grows a bit in backyard.
I think most people do enjoy an occasional junk food meal that’s pretty normal. But a lot of these people are doing it every day along with their $8 lattes from Starbucks. Good thing their student loans are forgiven.
Just some anecdotal evidence of food expenditures for my wife & I (both retired)…We spend about $70-80/week on groceries and that would be for all meals at home. If we go out to eat at an average restaurant, our average tab with tip is probably in the $70-$80 range. Do the math. If you know how shop for sales and can also cook, you can save a boatload by eating at home. We probably go out for dinner 2-3 times per month.
My dad brown-bagged it until he retired at age of 84…working on the shop floor of the company he owned…..120 employees. He made his own light breakfast and made a sandwich for his lunch and off to work at 6AM. Bought coffee from the coffee vending machine. He did have a hankering for a Danish pastry at coffee break. Heck of a guy. Lived to 97 without major health problems other than degenerative eye and hearing issues.
I work with a number of younger people. They love to eat out regularly. I’m like Scrooge McDuck. Cheese sandwich or PBJ, a yogurt, piece of fruit along with my country club water: Perrier or Peligrino.
“Interesting to see if they abandon their Urban lifestyle for some peace of mind in countryside or higher personal standard of living in Suburbs.”
Energy is the most persistently increasing fundamental cost of all. Transportation; at least these days; uses a lot of it…..
As an aside: All human beings should have a 125cc bike/scooter. They’re cheap, last forever, cost nothing to neither run nor service. Take up “no” space parked. And serve far and away most personal transportation roles, for far and away most people, at least as well as a silly box crawling around on 4. Two years and 20K miles on one of those, ought well be required in order to get a license for a car. Would make the driving population a fair bit less incompetent as well.
For urbanites, battery powered ride-hailed kickscooters takes efficiency (along ALL measures) up yet another massive notch. Anywhere where traffic density and/or parking availability is what determines speeds, those truly are the last-mile-fiber of the human transportation mix.
Both do presuppose the sort of advanced neurological developments seen among bipeds, though. Turtles and hoofed animals may be stuck on all four…..
“Urban dwellers are the ones most directly impacted by cumulative inflation over past several years.”
This is always the case, urban areas, cities, are ALWAYS more expensive.
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Yeh well. more expensive and unaffordable for most of the people living there are two different entities.
I was born in the Major US city everyone loves to hate. Played stoopball and stickball when a Kid. Was sent out to play in the morning and told to get back home by dinner.
Times have surely changed since then. Cops walked a Beat and everybody knew you did not Sass a Cop. That Garrison Belt hanging in dads closet was rather convincing. So walked the straight and narrow for sure.
“I was born in the Major US city everyone loves to hate. Played stoopball and stickball when a Kid. Was sent out to play in the morning and told to get back home by dinner.”
I was born in the city your city loves to hate, also played stickball, with the dimple-ball cut in half, broomstick bat.
When dad snapped the belt, it was time to smarten up, you probably had the one T.V., we all sat and watched the same show.
You get my point though, urban areas are always expensive, regardless the economy, anyone can cherry-pick a restaurant or store and say “Times are hard because “x” was really expensive when I went there”.
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I remember that city when middle income was enough, along with 5 day work week and single income household.
I too remember first TV when it arrived with the Tubes in rear of set.
I also remember working when US was still on Gold standard.
I also remember when Immigration to US meant needing a skill and having ability to support oneself.
Seems once US went off Gold Standard and politicians started Buying votes with welfare payments and promises of a free ride that accompanied that, the single earner middle class lifestyle disappeared in subsequent years.
US was also more powerful when it was not the worlds policeman.
It is not nostalgia that is missed it is that US citizen has been going backwards in their lifestyle for many many years.
It looks like we are going back to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in paper bags for lunch?
Maybe not everyone. Have some wood fired barbecued chicken in fridge leftover from last nights dinner.
Diabetes here we come!
“It looks like we are going back to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in paper bags for lunch?”
That’s Conagra’s decision to make, excess rev’s are better spent on buybacks.
How long until a CA politician proposes a law to outlaw fast food price increases?
Reparations fast food stamps.
Tax deduction for for fast food expenses for those who no longer know how to cook an egg or make a coffee. It’s only fair.
Just pay everybody more and all the problems go away. /s
Rep. Barbara Lee’s proposal (which only makes sense for San Francisco…) got me thinking. Why not have a Federal minimum wage = $50/hour? But let any state set its own minimum wage that is higher, or lower, than the federal number. In other words the federal number would only apply to states that don’t have any minimum wage law at all. How many states would set a minwage lower than the federal minwage? Think about the whole range of the idea.
That would kill the idea of a standard Federal minimum wage across the whole USA.
Its good being old because I remember when that was done. Nixon implemented wage and price controls twice in the 70’s.