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You probably remember Subway's famous "five-dollar footlong" promotion as much for the obnoxiously catchy jingle as for the sandwiches themselves. (Sorry for getting that stuck in your head all day.)
The sandwich chain recently resurrected the promotion in a national advertising campaign promising foot-long subs for just $4.99—but the special deal won't fly at one Subway restaurant in Seattle, where owner David Jones posted a sign this week giving customers the bad news.
Sadly, the consequences of high minimum wages, excessive taxation, and mandate-happy public policy are not limited to the death of cheap sandwiches. The cost of doing business in Seattle is higher than the Space Needle, and the unintended consequences of those policies are piling up too.
The biggest cost driver, as Jones' sign mentions, is Seattle's highest-in-the-nation minimum wage. It went from $9.47 to $11 per hour in 2015, then to $13 per hour in 2016, with a further increase to $15 per hour planned.
The result? According to researchers at the University of Washington's School of Public Policy and Governance, the number of hours worked in low-wage jobs has declined by around 9 percent since the start of 2016 "while hourly wages in such jobs increased by around 3 percent." The net outcome: In 2016, the "higher" minimum wage actually lowered low-wage workers' earnings by an average of $125 a month.
And now those same employees will have to pay more for sandwiches from Subway—and everything else too.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:53AM (3 children)
You can pretty much determine this for any business. Simply ask if there is some sort of serious barrier to market entry. For example, there could be network effects (nobody wants a facebook clone or dating service without users) or a patent.
If there is a serious barrier to market entry, the business is probably raking in the money. If not, they are probably struggling to stay in business.
What we have here is a place to eat food. Seattle might be a painful place to operate a business, but it is possible to open a restaurant. There is no serious barrier to market entry. Therefore, the business is struggling.
If you disagree, then you have found a way to get rich. Go for it. Open a restaurant in Seattle. Prove me wrong, getting rich in the process. Good luck.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday January 13 2018, @07:09AM (2 children)
there is a chance Subway has run the numbers and worked out *exactly* how much it can charge (and what excuses it needs to convince xustomers/justify that price, and bing, profit, screwed employees, and, likely, screwed customers.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @07:24AM (1 child)
These are all voluntary transactions. Either side can walk away from the deal. If a better deal is not available elsewhere, then that just tells you that you're getting a good deal. I know, you'd like $100/hour wages and $2 subs, but the lack of that doesn't mean you're getting screwed. If you could get what you wanted, YOU would be the one screwing over the other party.
I suppose you could claim there is fraud, but there is no evidence of that. Are the sandwiches smaller than advertised? Are the workers threatened with death if they quit their jobs? There doesn't seem to be a reason to suspect that the transactions are involuntary.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @01:12PM
For some reason conservative minds are highly susceptible to memes, the "socialism killed hundreds of millions" is a pretty recent one. It doesn't matter how many countries have successful universal healthcare, implementing it in the US would LIRERALLY kill millions!!! *eye rolls*