Posted on 04/25/2018 9:44:57 AM PDT by blam
I stopped to grab a burger in Marin County today and was kind of shocked to see the following posted on the front door.
That is a pretty steep starting wage for nonskilled labor, and $5.00 more than the California minimum wage.
In-N-Out does pay their employees well. The private burger chain pays store managers an average yearly salary of more than $160,000 with no college degree or previous management experience required. Facebook engineers soon to be flipping burgers.
Nonbinding
It is clear the minimum wage in California is nonbinding — that is irrelevant — and all the bluster about raising it would cause unemployment is just that, bluster.
During softer economic times, when the minimum wage is binding, the story changes. Not now, however.
Passing It On
Nevertheless, it did feel prices have risen for a burger, fries, and soda since the last time I was in an In-N-Out. I think it cost me around $8.50 today.
Does anyone remember the days of a $.35 Big Mac?
Real Minimum Wage Higher
Here is what is interesting about that $16.00 per hour offer.
In 1980, the minimum wage was $3.10 per hour, which equates to $9.94 in today’s inflation-adjusted dollars. The minimum wage is $11.00 in California, so a slight increase in the real wage.
If In-N-Out is forced to pay almost 50 percent above that to attract decent burger flippers and the company can pass it on in higher prices, inflation cometh is here, folks.
Other firms will have to pay higher wages to keep and attract their workers if In-N-Out is going to start bidding up the labor market.
We are happy for the entry-level workers, high school, and college kids that now have a higher return on their labor.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at macromon.wordpress.com ...
Or are, in my neck of the woods, just going out of business.
I buy pork loin usually for about $1.69#
I can cure and smoke 1# for about 31¢
After slicing it, it comes out to about 10¢ a slice.
Thicker than McDs
I get eggs for 99¢ a dozen, xl or jumbo, that’s just over 8¢ each.
IIRC, I buy Thomas’ English muffins for $2 for 6.
That’s 34¢ each
Plus the slice of cheese???
13¢ ???
All in all, about 65¢ each
And much better than McDs.
I will vote with my pocketbook, thank you; anyone who doesn’t care for my choices is quite free to start a restaurant and pay people like crap.
I don’t know about ‘noble’, I do feel that anyone who works a hard day on their feet deserves to be paid enough to live decently, and the people who patronize places where the workers aren’t paid enough to live well deserve to be ‘served’ by sick, disgruntled and/or incompetent workers.
You get what you pay for. If one has to be both a cheap A$$ and eat then learn to cook. I don’t eat out if I can’t afford to eat well, and anyone who doesn’t feel that way deserves to be served by typhoid Maria as far as I care. Maybe having a two dollar burger is more important to you than paying like a first world human and having the poor schlub making it take home enough to not live in their car, to me how we spend our money is the ultimate indicator of morality and values, and anyone working an 8 hour shift deserves to make enough for car, rent and health care, anyone who wants to pay them less deserves only a thieving crackhead for an employee.
“I buy pork loin usually for about $1.69#
I can cure and smoke 1# for about 31¢
After slicing it, it comes out to about 10¢ a slice.
Thicker than McDs”
Now you’re talkin :-)
I smoke a pork shoulder butt, end up with pounds and pounds of excellent pulled pork for pennies. Sous-vide a pork loin and it’s tender as hell. I can throw together an excellent and healthy dinner for what I pay to eat the garbage at McD’s.
Walmart has low prices because they artificially extort them from suppliers. That is not to say Walmart puts a gun to the head of suppliers, but if you want to supply Walmart, you have to agree to minuscule profit margins or they will replace you with a company who will so agree. I’m not going to quite say it is artificial price fixing, as the suppliers are willingly agreeing to Walmart’s demands for below market wholesale prices. Just saying that the 800 point gorilla has enormous leverage over suppliers.
You are right that volume is part of the reason for Walmart’s low prices, but it is also because Walmart is ruthless at attaining ridiculously low wholesale prices from their suppliers, which is why suppliers hate them so.
That’s a long time to wait.. Especially after getting a taste for fast food!
I remember jumping up and down in the back seat begging to stop at McDonalds whenever we passed one.. to no avail of course.
Once I got my drivers license I had my fill.. Ugh. Heh.
Remember Jack-in-the-Box in the early 70s? You would go through the drive through and order at that talking clown head? For me that was the fast food place to go. I still like going there and ordering those greasy fried tacos. Yum.
Labor is only 22-25% of the cost of fast food.
Walmart: We will buy this product at six cents per ounce.
Colgate Palmolive: But it costs us eight cents per ounce to make it.
Walmart: As I said we will buy this product at six cents per ounce.
Consumer: Hey, this stuff is not as good as it used to be. What? Do they water it down these days?
What a hoot! I remember them, but never been.. Had never even seen one in my area.
Dang, you are right. I find Walmart quality to be generally abysmal. I never understood why. Thanks for the insight.
Disclaimer: I almost never shop Walmart due to this.
Hey Bill, You’re missing something.
In 1966, the National average wage was $4,938.36.
.18 is 0.00364493476% of 4938.36.
Today a McDonalds cheeseburger is $1 on the dollar menu and a small fries is $1.39 for a total of $2.39.
The National average wage for 2017 is $48,642.15.
2.39 is 0.00491343413% of 48642.15 So the price is basically the SAME.
When we remember (usually fondly) the previous price of things, we tend to forget how little we made in our salaries!
Yup. I bought a 3-2-2 house in 1971 in San Jose for $71,000. That's probably a million dollar house today.
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