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Increasing the minimum wage is cool and all but I really don’t appreciate my Big Mac costing $7 and the smallest sized Starbucks Americano $4. I guess the silv

Increasing the minimum wage is cool and all but I really don’t appreciate my Big Mac costing $7 and the smallest sized Starbucks Americano $4. I guess the silver lining is that this law made me go grocery shopping more often and as a result I eat healthier.

toomuchtodo 2y ago
Minimum wage increases raised prices by only tens of cents per unit. The rest is corporate profits. McDonald’s and Starbucks quarterly and annual profit figures are readily available with a quick search. They can afford to pay labor more. https://investor.starbucks.com/news/financial-releases/default.aspx https://investor.starbucks.com/news/financial-releases/defau... https://www.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/investors/financial-information.html https://www.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/investors/financial-inform...
- danans 2y ago
  > They can afford to pay labor more. Only if they decide to pay shareholders less. And shareholders are not going to accept getting paid less in order to pay labor more. That's a quick way for CEOs get fired.
  - toomuchtodo 2y ago
    Indeed! Which is why minimum wage laws and unions are so important. The evidence shows they can afford it and they wouldn’t pay it voluntarily, so keep pushing the minimum wage up.
    - danans 2y ago
      Yeah. The idea that corporations are going to raise wages on their own even for the general well being of society has been debunked many times over. These things work according to power and leverage, and nothing less.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
    - refurb 2y ago
      > The evidence shows they can afford it and they wouldn’t pay it voluntarily, so keep pushing the minimum wage up. You're forgetting the other option they have - invest their money elsewhere. So instead of having a job that pays $18/hour, there is just no job at all. Is that better?
      - toomuchtodo 2y ago
        Didn’t forget. In a macro with structural labor shortages due to rapidly declining fertility rates, this is unlikely. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=labor%20shortages&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
        danans 2y ago
        The structural labor shortages (and implied rising leverage for workers) are also a reason that corporations are racing towards AI and robotics. By the time robots have replaced large swathes of labor, we will need to consider taxes on automation, which unions will hopefully support.
  - EliRivers 2y ago
    That's a quick way for CEOs get fired. Do you have any evidence of CEOs being fired by shareholders because workers got a payrise? Starbucks has been handing out payrises of a couple of percent this year but I don't see shareholders firing the CEO. Likewise many other public companies.
    - toomuchtodo 2y ago
      Starbucks replaced CEO Laxman Narasimhan (considered to be too accomodating of Starbucks workers' organizing efforts by Starbucks founder Howard Schultz and activist investors) with Brian Niccol (who previously fought against organizing efforts at Chipotle). https://x.com/RBReich/status/1828187954290008180 https://x.com/RBReich/status/1828187954290008180 https://x.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1823356710372934004 https://x.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1823356710372934004 https://sbworkersunited.org/ https://sbworkersunited.org/
      - EliRivers 2y ago
        From what I read, the activist investors were complaining about poor sales and an inadequate China strategy. Not 2% payrises for employees.
toyg 2y ago
I doubt those prices are unique to California.
- stonogo 2y ago
  Those prices are pretty famously lower in European nations with higher minimum wages.
lotsofpulp 2y ago
Publish a letter to McDonald’s shareholders to reduce franchising costs and hence reduce their 30%+ profit margins. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/profit-margins https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/prof...
- bb88 2y ago
  Also fix their broken ice cream machines. That is maybe 2% unto itself. https://mcbroken.com/ https://mcbroken.com/
kevingadd 2y ago
McDonalds doesn't publish prices online, but for me in downtown Seattle - with a famously high minimum wage ($20) everyone said was going to destroy the economy - a smallest-size Starbucks Americano at my local one is $3.85 according to their website. I think what you're experiencing might be "business owners charge what the market will bear" and you, as part of the market, are bearing price increases.
hollandheese 2y ago
Neither do I, but that has nothing to do with the minimum wage increase.
sumedh 2y ago
> I really don’t appreciate my Big Mac costing $7 and the smallest sized Starbucks Americano $4 You should go and complain during the company's annual meeting that shareholders should get less profits.

toomuchtodo 2y ago

Minimum wage increases raised prices by only tens of cents per unit. The rest is corporate profits. McDonald’s and Starbucks quarterly and annual profit figures are readily available with a quick search. They can afford to pay labor more. https://investor.starbucks.com/news/financial-releases/default.aspx https://investor.starbucks.com/news/financial-releases/defau... https://www.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/investors/financial-information.html https://www.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/investors/financial-inform...

danans 2y ago
> They can afford to pay labor more. Only if they decide to pay shareholders less. And shareholders are not going to accept getting paid less in order to pay labor more. That's a quick way for CEOs get fired.
- toomuchtodo 2y ago
  Indeed! Which is why minimum wage laws and unions are so important. The evidence shows they can afford it and they wouldn’t pay it voluntarily, so keep pushing the minimum wage up.
  - danans 2y ago
    Yeah. The idea that corporations are going to raise wages on their own even for the general well being of society has been debunked many times over. These things work according to power and leverage, and nothing less.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
  - refurb 2y ago
    > The evidence shows they can afford it and they wouldn’t pay it voluntarily, so keep pushing the minimum wage up. You're forgetting the other option they have - invest their money elsewhere. So instead of having a job that pays $18/hour, there is just no job at all. Is that better?
    - toomuchtodo 2y ago
      Didn’t forget. In a macro with structural labor shortages due to rapidly declining fertility rates, this is unlikely. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=labor%20shortages&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
      - danans 2y ago
        The structural labor shortages (and implied rising leverage for workers) are also a reason that corporations are racing towards AI and robotics. By the time robots have replaced large swathes of labor, we will need to consider taxes on automation, which unions will hopefully support.
- EliRivers 2y ago
  That's a quick way for CEOs get fired. Do you have any evidence of CEOs being fired by shareholders because workers got a payrise? Starbucks has been handing out payrises of a couple of percent this year but I don't see shareholders firing the CEO. Likewise many other public companies.
  - toomuchtodo 2y ago
    Starbucks replaced CEO Laxman Narasimhan (considered to be too accomodating of Starbucks workers' organizing efforts by Starbucks founder Howard Schultz and activist investors) with Brian Niccol (who previously fought against organizing efforts at Chipotle). https://x.com/RBReich/status/1828187954290008180 https://x.com/RBReich/status/1828187954290008180 https://x.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1823356710372934004 https://x.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1823356710372934004 https://sbworkersunited.org/ https://sbworkersunited.org/
    - EliRivers 2y ago
      From what I read, the activist investors were complaining about poor sales and an inadequate China strategy. Not 2% payrises for employees.

toyg 2y ago

I doubt those prices are unique to California.

stonogo 2y ago
Those prices are pretty famously lower in European nations with higher minimum wages.

lotsofpulp 2y ago

Publish a letter to McDonald’s shareholders to reduce franchising costs and hence reduce their 30%+ profit margins. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/profit-margins https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/prof...

bb88 2y ago
Also fix their broken ice cream machines. That is maybe 2% unto itself. https://mcbroken.com/ https://mcbroken.com/

kevingadd 2y ago

McDonalds doesn't publish prices online, but for me in downtown Seattle - with a famously high minimum wage ($20) everyone said was going to destroy the economy - a smallest-size Starbucks Americano at my local one is $3.85 according to their website. I think what you're experiencing might be "business owners charge what the market will bear" and you, as part of the market, are bearing price increases.

hollandheese 2y ago

Neither do I, but that has nothing to do with the minimum wage increase.

sumedh 2y ago

> I really don’t appreciate my Big Mac costing $7 and the smallest sized Starbucks Americano $4 You should go and complain during the company's annual meeting that shareholders should get less profits.