That doesn’t mean raising the minimum wage had no negative consequences. Reich and his co-author, Denis Sosinsky, found that the higher minimum wage caused menu prices in California fast-food chains to rise by about 3.7 percent. That number is far lower than the “$20 Big Macs” that critics of the law warned of, but it’s still significant at a time when many consumers are deeply upset over the post-pandemic spike in food prices. Even so, Reich points out that this number pales in comparison with the 18 percent raise that the average fast-food worker received because of the new law. (The authors calculated that about 62 percent of the wage increase was absorbed through higher prices, while the rest was likely absorbed by a mix of reduced turnover and, crucially, lower profits for franchisees—hence the massive industry resistance.)

  • undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch
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    7 hours ago

    People complaining about fast food prices come across as entitled to me. How are you going to complain about underpaid staff making you a meal as quickly as possible when it’s not even healthy, nutritious nor good for the environment?

    I just don’t understand why this is metric we measure things by. Are we that lazy that we can’t be bothered to make do without a burger sometimes?

    • GHiLA@sh.itjust.works
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      17 minutes ago

      Exactly, just don’t eat there.

      then McDonalds goes under and nobody has a job!

      …but.

      How are we winning, people?

    • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyz
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      24 minutes ago

      Apparently for some people in food deserts, it’s their only viable option. Fast food prices going up means cost of living increased.

    • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyz
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      24 minutes ago

      Apparently for some people in food deserts, it’s their only viable option. Fast food prices going up means cost of living increased.

  • P_P@lemm.ee
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    10 hours ago

    Yup. Overwhelming success for the economy as it always is whenever you raise the minimum wage.

    • silence7@slrpnk.netOP
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      10 hours ago

      Yeah, there’s probably some level that’s too high, but $16 to $20 per hour is pretty clearly a long ways from it still.

    • ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      Yeah, the three percent rise likely would have happened either way. The prices are what the economy will tolerate not the cost of business. If the cost of business exceeds the price the economy will tolerate the business folds. This should make the businesses that are left over more efficient. The most efficient countries (highest GDP) tend to have higher wages.

      • JBar2@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        Another perspective is that a 3% increase in prices - even without non-labor inflation - to pay people closer to a living wage reflects a more accurate cost of that dining experience. It could be that the public is subsidizing those restaurants’ labor through social programs that make up the difference vs a living wage

        As you noted, with the real (or at least more realistic) cost of eating out reflected in the pricing, consumers will decide if that experience is worth it. And some businesses may close. And that’s called capitalism