Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

411–420 of 440 posts

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#411

Post by ConfuciusSay02 »

MagnumOpus wrote: post #395
coldtea wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Smugness is certainly a fact, but so is that brexit will leave the UK economically worse off in pretty much all respects. Especially the poor. Citation needed. But not those made-up by economists, pundits and bureaucrats making money by being pro-EU and working within EU organization and with EC money...

It's like global warming. You can always find a crackpot who has a contrary opinion, but the fact that every single "neutral" economist apart from those with a monetary interest in Brexit agrees is a pretty strong indication - from the IMF over US investment banks to the Chinese government and the UK statistics authority - not to speak of stock markets and FX markets which sell off everytime the risk of Brexit rises,…

The top American "neutral" economists told us that everything was great in the real estate market right before 2008.

Sterling is up against USD since March. Besides, a low pound can be good for exports/manufacturing. The idea that if the pound drops against the USD it's categorically "bad" is untrue and simplistic.

When David Cameron was campaigning, he said he'd be glad to have a referendum and he thought that a Brexit might actually be better for the UK. Thanks to that he was voted in with a majority, and promptly changed his tune to saying a Brexit would be lead to a catastrophe. Funny how he changed his mind so quickly. Also funny how the "neutral" economists didn't pipe up to correct Cameron during the election.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#412

Post by dragonwriter »

ConfuciusSay02 wrote: post #411
MagnumOpus wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like global warming. You can always find a crackpot who has a contrary opinion, but the fact that every single "neutral" economist apart from those with a monetary interest in Brexit agrees is a pretty strong indication - from the IMF over US investment banks to the Chinese government and the UK statistics authority - not to speak of stock markets and FX markets which sell off everytime the risk of Brexit rises,…

The top American "neutral" economists told us that everything was great in the real estate market right before 2008. Sterling is up against USD since March. Besides, a low pound can be good for exports/manufacturing. The idea that if the pound drops against the USD it's categorically "bad" is untrue and simplistic. When David Cameron was campaigning, he said he'd be glad to have a referendum and he thought that a Bre…

> The top American "neutral" economists told us that everything was great in the real estate market right before 2008.

The US housing bubble collapse was widely and publicly predicted by leading independent (that is, those not working for banks or government) economists of every political stripe for many years before the collapse.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#413

Post by dimino »

zaphar wrote: post #366
dimino wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What costs money, a community center? Well yes, community centers are literally buildings, and as such, have expenses. Most US communities still have them, however, so it's probably not the money that's preventing them from existing.

McDonalds has an economic incentive for having all those qualities. Employees get fired for not cleaning the floor. A store goes out of business if people don't feel welcome there. A business wants as little in the way of customers as possible so the bureaucracy is kept to the minimum A community center however is usually run by volunteers and is funded often as not by government money. The money comes with bureaucra…

I don't know if this would be some kind of libertarian wet dream, but I wonder if there's value in taking some of the underlying reasons McDonald's is working for this purpose, and trying to emulate them in existing infrastructure.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#414

Post by ConfuciusSay02 »

dragonwriter wrote: post #412
ConfuciusSay02 wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The top American "neutral" economists told us that everything was great in the real estate market right before 2008. Sterling is up against USD since March. Besides, a low pound can be good for exports/manufacturing. The idea that if the pound drops against the USD it's categorically "bad" is untrue and simplistic. When David Cameron was campaigning, he said he'd be glad to have a referendum and he thought that a Bre…

> The top American "neutral" economists told us that everything was great in the real estate market right before 2008. The US housing bubble collapse was widely and publicly predicted by leading independent (that is, those not working for banks or government) economists of every political stripe for many years before the collapse.

Those independent economists were not the ones being trotted out on the media talk shows back then, and there's no reason to think the independent economists would be trotted out now for this Brexit debate.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#415

Post by dragonwriter »

ConfuciusSay02 wrote: post #414
dragonwriter wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The top American "neutral" economists told us that everything was great in the real estate market right before 2008. The US housing bubble collapse was widely and publicly predicted by leading independent (that is, those not working for banks or government) economists of every political stripe for many years before the collapse.

Those independent economists were not the ones being trotted out on the media talk shows back then, and there's no reason to think the independent economists would be trotted out now for this Brexit debate.

> Those independent economists were not the ones being trotted out on the media talk shows back then

They were widely reported in major news media, including appearances on "media talk shows".

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#416

Post by DanBC »

ConfuciusSay02 wrote: post #411
MagnumOpus wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like global warming. You can always find a crackpot who has a contrary opinion, but the fact that every single "neutral" economist apart from those with a monetary interest in Brexit agrees is a pretty strong indication - from the IMF over US investment banks to the Chinese government and the UK statistics authority - not to speak of stock markets and FX markets which sell off everytime the risk of Brexit rises,…

The top American "neutral" economists told us that everything was great in the real estate market right before 2008. Sterling is up against USD since March. Besides, a low pound can be good for exports/manufacturing. The idea that if the pound drops against the USD it's categorically "bad" is untrue and simplistic. When David Cameron was campaigning, he said he'd be glad to have a referendum and he thought that a Bre…

> Funny how he changed his mind so quickly.

Politicians being politicians. Here's Borris before and now.

https://tompride.wordpress.com/2016/05/28/the-great-eu-debat...

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#417

Post by kristianc »

MagnumOpus wrote: post #395
coldtea wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Smugness is certainly a fact, but so is that brexit will leave the UK economically worse off in pretty much all respects. Especially the poor. Citation needed. But not those made-up by economists, pundits and bureaucrats making money by being pro-EU and working within EU organization and with EC money...

It's like global warming. You can always find a crackpot who has a contrary opinion, but the fact that every single "neutral" economist apart from those with a monetary interest in Brexit agrees is a pretty strong indication - from the IMF over US investment banks to the Chinese government and the UK statistics authority - not to speak of stock markets and FX markets which sell off everytime the risk of Brexit rises,…

Worth bearing in mind that most of those "neutral" economists also said it would be a great idea for the UK to join the Euro.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#418

Post by boodm »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #232
_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #119

What astonishes me, is how often poor people go eating in a restaurant (e.g. breakfast in the first paragraph) when making breakfast at home (or lunch) is so much cheaper (as a fun exercise we often calculate the prices of our home lunch). Although I have a nice income, 80% of the time I bring my own food to work because restaurants are too expensive in my opinion to regularly use them. As a side note: I have the sus…

Cooking for yourself is only cheaper if you've already spent the money to outfit your kitchen. There's a big up front investment in terms of ingredients and tools. You can spend $50 up front, and then eat for $3/meal by cooking for yourself... Or you can just spend $6/meal at McDonalds. If you only have $10 in your pocket you really don't have much of a choice. This is, I think, the most important thing to understand…

I'd argue the up front cost is much less than $50. However, using the numbers as provided, the break-even is still less than a single week.

In the breakfast example, you can buy a single McD meal or buy a dozen eggs with a container of quick oats - both are ~$6. The latter is much better for liquidity.

Not to mention, the eggs and oats is easy to cook, requires little 'ingredients and tools', is healthier, and will last multiple days (helping w/ liquidity).

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#419

Post by ConfuciusSay02 »

dragonwriter wrote: post #415
ConfuciusSay02 wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those independent economists were not the ones being trotted out on the media talk shows back then, and there's no reason to think the independent economists would be trotted out now for this Brexit debate.

> Those independent economists were not the ones being trotted out on the media talk shows back then They were widely reported in major news media, including appearances on "media talk shows".

Widely reported? It was just the opposite.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#420

Post by boodm »

refurb wrote: post #371
Merad wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won't get very far with one pot or pan. I live alone and cook for myself, and my kitchen probably has a dozen. For anything beyond the very basics you'll need a variety of mixing bowls, mixing spoons, measuring cups/spoons, spatulas, etc. Knives and cutting board to chop ingredients. Not to mention the need for a basic assortment of spices, butter, oil appropriate for cooking, etc. Sure, you don't need all of tha…

I guess it depends on your standards. Back in college I cooked a ton of meals in just one pot. Cook some ground pork, drain, cook rice, add pork and frozen veggies. Probably costs $10 to make 5 or 6 meals.

You're correct. It's sad there are people voting you down with no explanation. I cook every meal I eat (4 a day) in a single frying pan, a single cooking sheet, microwave, and a rice cooker. For seasoning, I have salt, pepper, and some Ms Dash. I don't know much that I can't cook with those items alone.
Post reply on HN