https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-blame-democrats-chipotle-burritos-price-rise Covid unemployment payments have not caused a labor shortage – Chipotle simply chose not to chop executive pay House Republicans are blaming Democrats for the rise in Chipotle burrito prices. You heard me right. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) issued a statement on Wednesday claiming that Chipotle’s recent decision to raise prices on their burritos and other menu products by about 4% was caused by Democrats. “Democrats’ socialist stimulus bill caused a labor shortage and now burrito lovers everywhere are footing the bill,” said an NRCC spokesman, Mike Berg. It seems Republicans have finally found an issue to run on in the 2022 midterm elections. Apparently Dr Seuss and Mr Potato Head weren’t gaining enough traction. The GOP’s tortured logic is that the unemployment benefits in the American Rescue Plan have caused workers to stay home rather than seek employment, resulting in labor shortages that have forced employers like Chipotle to increase wages, which has required them to raise their prices. Hence, Chipotle’s more expensive burrito. This isn’t just loony economics. It’s dangerously loony economics because it might be believed, leading to all sorts of stupid public policies. Start with the notion that $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits is keeping Americans from working. Since fewer than 30% of jobless workers qualify for state unemployment benefits, the claim is that legions of workers have chosen to become couch potatoes and collect $15,000 a year rather than get a job. I challenge one Republican lawmaker to live on $15,000 a year. In fact, evidence suggests that workers who are holding back from re-entering the job market don’t have childcare or are still concerned about their health during the pandemic. Besides, if employers want additional workers, they can do what they necessarily do for anything they want more of but can’t obtain at its current price – pay more. It’s called capitalism. Republicans should bone up on it. When Chipotle wanted to attract more workers, it raised its average wage to $15 an hour. That comes to around $30,000 a year per worker – still too little to live on but double the federal unemployment benefit. Oh, and there’s no reason to suppose this wage hike forced Chipotle to raise the prices of its burrito. The company had other options. Chipotle’s executives are among the best paid in America. Its chief executive, Brian Niccol, raked in $38m last year – which happens to be 2,898 times more than the typical Chipotle employee. All Chipotle’s top executives got whopping pay increases. So it would have been possible for Chipotle to avoid raising its burrito prices by – dare I say? – paying its executives less. But Chipotle decided otherwise. I’m not going to second-guess Chipotle’s business decision – nor should the NRCC. By the way, I keep hearing Republican lawmakers say the GOP is the “party of the working class”. If that’s so, it ought to celebrate when hourly workers get a raise instead of howling about it. Everyone ought to celebrate when those at the bottom get higher wages. The typical American worker hasn’t had a real raise in four decades. Income inequality is out of control. Wealth inequality is into the stratosphere (where Jeff Bezos is heading, apparently). If wages at the bottom rise because employers need to pay more to get the workers they need, that’s not a problem. It’s a victory. Instead of complaining about a so-called “labor shortage”, Republicans ought to be complaining about the shortage of jobs paying a living wage. Don’t hold your breath, or your burrito.
Yeah... why don't we simply increase the pay in retail to $100,000 per hour and then see what your burger or taco costs. At this point there is plenty of evidence that: Workers rather stay home and collect pandemic unemployment than going to work for slightly more money. (This is why universal basic income will be such a fiasco - it makes people lazy). There are plenty of employers needing help and they have been increasing wages to near $15 per hour or more to try to get workers back into their establishments. This entire situation will resolve itself when the federal government follows the lead of many states eliminates pandemic unemployment. The supply/demand scale of labor will arrive back at standard wage scale points the artificial interference of handing out free taxpayer money from the federal government. Of course, the best the Guardian can make out of this is executives should hand their personal pay to the workers. Maybe if they walked through the math --- the Guardian would find out that if every dime of executive compensation was stripped from the executives and distributed to the Chipotle workers -- this would amount to 3 cents per week for each or so.
^the above is absurd and shows just how disconnected some people are from the working class of America. I say let the unemployment continue until wages rise or some of these businesses that look to squeeze workers go out of business. The working poor are suffering in poverty and it needs to be addressed.
Well then you can address it in multiple ways: Setting the minimum wage higher. But now that many businesses are paying $15 per hour -- the advocates are demanding $22 or more per hour. Where does this stop. Your burger will soon be $35 and most of the neighborhood businesses will go under. Providing universal health care so people don't need to worry about medical expenses (Yes, Obamacare was a fiasco. Either adopt a public plan or don't do anything at all). Paying rent subsidies, food subsidies, and other benefits to lower income people. (We are already doing this).
Well let's just let the supply and demand of the free market define the wages without artificial interference from the government providing people with money to sit home & do nothing.
The free market where executives pay themselves what they want because they can, and then squeeze the life blood out of everyone under them? And so on across the corporate landscape? You mean that kind of "free market?" Is that the kind of jungle economy you wish to live in? Where the government then has to step in to prevent people from starving and dying in the streets? Which means that government must then raise taxes even higher to prevent bodies on the street and the violence that would surely follow? That kind of jungle economy? Good luck with that.
So your proposal seems to be to have the government control executive pay. Good luck with that failed concept.
No. I never said that. But you are implicitly condoning the scenario I presented as the righteous alternative.