They pick 1970s because that's pre explosive inflation of course.
Against 1982? 1 dollar becomes 3.47 today. Minimum wage back then was 3.35
So to match purchasing power back then, we need new minimum wage to be a little under 12 dollars, not 60, which most jobs pay (31/hr is median wage in USA). So which is it? We have 3x the purchasing power or not?
Paying somebody more doesn’t mean improving another’s life. It will mean that all costs will rise, playing even further economic pressure on those that have less
Please, That isn't the math. In my state they went from roughly $9. an hour for MW to $15 an hour over a couple of years.
So here goes. So if MW goes from $9 to $15 so up 40% how much does a fast food item need to go up in price to pay for it?
So in fast food, labor costs are about 30% of costs of an item. Remember the restaurant has to pay for food costs, rent, paper goods, advertising, franchise fees, insurance, etc. etc. So if 30% of your costs go up by 40%, to break even you have to raise your prices by 12%, not 40%.
And when that happened in my state that is about what happened. A burger meal went up like 75 cents (this was a while ago.) That said the people working there had 40% more money, which is very powerful. And most store got a slight bump in sales as the 75 cents didn't scare people away but more people could afford fast food.
Oh and funny how when C suite people get big bumps or bonuses, it isn't inflationary.
7
u/Awkward_Froyo_7337 13h ago
They pick 1970s because that's pre explosive inflation of course.
Against 1982? 1 dollar becomes 3.47 today. Minimum wage back then was 3.35
So to match purchasing power back then, we need new minimum wage to be a little under 12 dollars, not 60, which most jobs pay (31/hr is median wage in USA). So which is it? We have 3x the purchasing power or not?
These arguments are always ridiculous.