Minimum Wage Massacre: Wendy's Unleashes 1,000 Robots To Counter Higher Labor Costs

[Ban Hammer 13,333]

http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/minimum-wage-wendys-unleashes-1000-robots-to-counter-higher-labor-costs

 

Quote

 

Everyone clearly understands that when government taxes an item, like cigarettes, thereby artificially raising the price, people will buy less cigarettes. Simple, right?

But a very strange thing happens when the minimum wage is brought up. Some people refuse to accept the economic reality:

If government raises the minimum wage, thereby artificially raising the price of labor, employers will buy less of it!

Employers will adjust by:

#1 - Going out of business.
#2 - Firing the lowest skilled workers. In other words, the guy who was sweeping the floor for $8/hr is let go. He's not going to be paid $15/hr just because the government says so. Government can't increase the value of someone's labor by decree.
#3 - Automating.
                                                                  - Ron Paul

 

 

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Partly true. No pants on fire with the above assertion.

 

However if you look back in time, employers were more than happy to pay well below fair wages, and cut costs endangering workers who, when harmed or killed were simply replaced with no adverse consequences for the employer. That is the other side of the coin, and balance is the key.

 

Regulation is not always an evil.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Make America great again, one robot at a time. 

[Póg mo 1,749]

17 hours ago, Ban Hammer said:

http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/minimum-wage-wendys-unleashes-1000-robots-to-counter-higher-labor-costs

 

 

If only someone had listened to you, before demanding higher wages, the entire industrial revolution could have been prevented.

 

 

[Dashinka 24,488]

5 minutes ago, Póg mo said:

If only someone had listened to you, before demanding higher wages, the entire industrial revolution could have been prevented.

 

 

Not really a relevant comparison.  Times change, technology increases, efficiency increases and the economy responds accordingly to all the factors.  The point I think the OP is trying to make is that the government cannot artificially control the economy or the responses by producers and consumers.  Just look at the impacts of the Philadelphia soda tax on businesses including those not specifically producing or bottling soda.

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2017-02-22/industry-philadelphia-soda-tax-killing-sales-layoffs-loom

 

[Dakine10 5,452]

   Wendy's CEO Bob Wright made 2 million dollars last year and he is complaining about minimum wage workers getting a 5% increase because it really hurts the bottom line. Bob's base salary in 2013 was $375,000 and he earned another ~$300,000 in bonuses due to Wendy's exceeding their performance metrics. Namely selling a lot of burgers and keeping their employee's as close to the poverty level as possible.

 

  Amazing story that Bob gets a 150% raise over 3 years, but yeah, higher minimum wage is the problem. More amazing is there are people out there who buy that story.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

51 minutes ago, Dakine10 said:

   Wendy's CEO Bob Wright made 2 million dollars last year and he is complaining about minimum wage workers getting a 5% increase because it really hurts the bottom line. Bob's base salary in 2013 was $375,000 and he earned another ~$300,000 in bonuses due to Wendy's exceeding their performance metrics. Namely selling a lot of burgers and keeping their employee's as close to the poverty level as possible.

 

  Amazing story that Bob gets a 150% raise over 3 years, but yeah, higher minimum wage is the problem. More amazing is there are people out there who buy that story.

Corporate greed at its finest!

[Póg mo 1,749]

3 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

Not really a relevant comparison.  Times change, technology increases, efficiency increases and the economy responds accordingly to all the factors.  The point I think the OP is trying to make is that the government cannot artificially control the economy or the responses by producers and consumers.  

 

 

You mean like the 40 hour week? You know the one mandated by Congress in 1940? Or do you believe we should go back to the era of 100 hour work weeks? Seeing as you have such faith in the economy to respond as necessary? 

 

3 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

 

 

 

Just look at the impacts of the Philadelphia soda tax on businesses including those not specifically producing or bottling soda.

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2017-02-22/industry-philadelphia-soda-tax-killing-sales-layoffs-loom

 

I don't know anything about soda taxes, so I comment. I do know a few people who would benefit from consuming less sugar, and anyone by extension paying health premiums, but I don't know if a soda tax is the way to go.

[Dashinka 24,488]

4 hours ago, Dakine10 said:

   Wendy's CEO Bob Wright made 2 million dollars last year and he is complaining about minimum wage workers getting a 5% increase because it really hurts the bottom line. Bob's base salary in 2013 was $375,000 and he earned another ~$300,000 in bonuses due to Wendy's exceeding their performance metrics. Namely selling a lot of burgers and keeping their employee's as close to the poverty level as possible.

 

  Amazing story that Bob gets a 150% raise over 3 years, but yeah, higher minimum wage is the problem. More amazing is there are people out there who buy that story.

Expected response, bring up the pay of the CEO.  You do realize that most employees at a Wendy's restaurant are not employees of Wendy's corporate.  That is how franchises work, it is small business owners that have the labor burden, and in this case Wendy's corporate is trying to help them out to improve efficiencies.  

[Dashinka 24,488]

1 hour ago, Póg mo said:

You mean like the 40 hour week? You know the one mandated by Congress in 1940? Or do you believe we should go back to the era of 100 hour work weeks? Seeing as you have such faith in the economy to respond as necessary? 

 

I don't know anything about soda taxes, so I comment. I do know a few people who would benefit from consuming less sugar, and anyone by extension paying health premiums, but I don't know if a soda tax is the way to go.

I know many people that work way over 40 hours a week for a variety of reasons.  The main issue is that when doing this (by choice), they are compensated accordingly.

 

The soda tax example is just a way to demonstrate how governments think they can engineer people to act accordingly.  Did the Philadelphia City government not realize that people will simply go outside the city to get their soda for a lower price, and then do the rest of their shopping there?  Regardless of the health benefits of drinking less soda, the economic impacts their "good intentions" create seem way beyond their comprehension.

[Póg mo 1,749]

2 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

I know many people that work way over 40 hours a week for a variety of reasons.  The main issue is that when doing this (by choice), they are compensated accordingly.

 

The soda tax example is just a way to demonstrate how governments think they can engineer people to act accordingly.  Did the Philadelphia City government not realize that people will simply go outside the city to get their soda for a lower price, and then do the rest of their shopping there?  Regardless of the health benefits of drinking less soda, the economic impacts their "good intentions" create seem way beyond their comprehension.

Exactly, thanks you for demonstrating why laws are often best applied at state or national level, otherwise it is too easy for people to circumvent the rules. Not that I agree with a soda tax, far from it in fact. Soda tax probably would have a disproportionate effect on lower income people, which I feel is unfair and probably end up having negative consequences in other areas, beyond tax collection.

[OriZ 3,157]

5 minutes ago, Póg mo said:

Exactly, thanks you for demonstrating why laws are often best applied at state or national level, otherwise it is too easy for people to circumvent the rules. Not that I agree with a soda tax, far from it in fact. Soda tax probably would have a disproportionate effect on lower income people, which I feel is unfair and probably end up having negative consequences in other areas, beyond tax collection.

I'm not a big government person, but, if at least they took the revenue from the tax(this is assuming they wouldn't actually be losing said revenue because people wouldn't buy it) and used it to subsidize say 100% juices, I might actually be in favor of that because then at least lower income people would be able to afford a healthier option. Most people don't realize that when they buy "juice" they're really getting mostly corn syrup, unless it specifically says 100% fruit juice. Unfortunately those are expensive, here we usually pay around $4 per 64 oz bottle.

Edited March 3, 2017 by OriZ

[Teddy B 17,252]

14 minutes ago, OriZ said:

I'm not a big government person, but, if at least they took the revenue from the tax(this is assuming they wouldn't actually be losing said revenue because people wouldn't buy it) and used it to subsidize say 100% juices, I might actually be in favor of that because then at least lower income people would be able to afford a healthier option. Most people don't realize that when they buy "juice" they're really getting mostly corn syrup, unless it specifically says 100% fruit juice. Unfortunately those are expensive, here we usually pay around $4 per 64 oz bottle.

The idea is good in theory, but have you ever seen the amount of sugar in regular 100% fruit juice? It's almost as bad as a can of soda. Whenever I buy fruit juice, I buy either lite or diet, much less sugar and calories. Sometimes I buy one bottle of each the lite and diet and mix them together because the diet tastes a bit watered down.

[OriZ 3,157]

7 minutes ago, Teddy B said:

The idea is good in theory, but have you ever seen the amount of sugar in regular 100% fruit juice? It's almost as bad as a can of soda. Whenever I buy fruit juice, I buy either lite or diet, much less sugar and calories. Sometimes I buy one bottle of each the lite and diet and mix them together because the diet tastes a bit watered down.

I don't believe in lite or diet, usually the stuff they put in it is worse for you than just regular. When we were in Wi in January my wife and her sister were talking during a(belated cause they waited for us) xmas party. Turns out, the sister drinks diet half & half. Well, my wife took a look at the label and guess what? It's milk and...corn syrup. Well yippie for avoiding the cream but corn syrup will turn into fat eventually anyway. We like to do things as natural as possible, rarely look at the calories or the sugar, what's important to me is - does it avoid stuff like corn syrup? Is it natural and in some cases(like dairy and meat) is it even organic? If the answer is yes I'll take that over any diet or lite. Yes, natural fruit juice has alot of sugar but it's fruit sugar, not added sugar. You get that sugar if you just eat the recommended servings of fruits a day as well. I'm not saying you should gulp down a whole bottle of natural fruit juice daily(there's about 8 times the sugar you need in one bottle), some water is good for you too

Edited March 3, 2017 by OriZ

[Teddy B 17,252]

15 minutes ago, OriZ said:

I don't believe in lite or diet, usually the stuff they put in it is worse for you than just regular. When we were in Wi in January my wife and her sister were talking during a(belated cause they waited for us) xmas party. Turns out, the sister drinks diet half & half. Well, my wife took a look at the label and guess what? It's milk and...corn syrup. Well yippie for avoiding the cream but corn syrup will turn into fat eventually anyway. We like to do things as natural as possible, rarely look at the calories or the sugar, what's important to me is - does it avoid stuff like corn syrup? Is it natural and in some cases(like dairy and meat) is it even organic? If the answer is yes I'll take that over any diet or lite. Yes, natural fruit juice has alot of sugar but it's fruit sugar, not added sugar. You get that sugar if you just eat the recommended servings of fruits a day as well. I'm not saying you should gulp down a whole bottle of natural fruit juice daily(there's about 8 times the sugar you need in one bottle), some water is good for you too

True a good amount of the lite or diet foods and drinks contain garbage sweeteners, it's a bit of a double edged sword. Most anything that's overly sugary or fattening I try to avoid altogether, but I do make exceptions for a few things I really like and a nice cold glass of Cran-Grape juice with breakfast is one of them. The regular juice is far too sugary for me, just like any regular soda is as well so I go with the diet or lite when I do drink it.