Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout • Hacker News Board

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#451

Post by davemp » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 2:48 AM UTC

dhx wrote: post #407

It looks like what needs to change most is consumer expectation for the true cost of dining at sit-down restaurants in their current format. Taking the Applebee's salmon menu item[1][2] as an example and comparing the cost if it were to be replicated in Australia: Ingredients cost ~USD$11: In Australia, fresh (never frozen) farmed salmon from Tasmania is $USD29/kg delivered to your doorstep within 24-48hrs of being p…

You’re over estimating the quality of applebee’s ingredients. Also restaurants generally have higher profit margin items such as appetizers/drinks/deserts to offset entrees.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#452

Post by mkoryak » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 2:52 AM UTC

kbelder wrote: post #198

bcrosby95 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's with traffic though. I live about 45 minutes from downtown LA without traffic. Which turns into 2.5 hours with traffic.

My commute is 45 minutes without traffic... 46 minutes with traffic. (I live in Oregon.)

Sounds like your definition of traffic is different from my definition of traffic.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#453

Post by arvinsim » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 2:53 AM UTC

greiskul wrote: post #335

ummwhat wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My pet theory is cities are malthusian. Contrary to popular belief, Malthus didn't predict runaway population growth. What he actually predicted (and was right for most of human history), is that any gains in productivity would be eaten up by population growth until the average wealth per person diluted down to it's previous level. So back to cities. Here's my pet theory. You build more apartments, or faster trains o…

There is also the Georgian explanation that rent seeking landlords will always increase rent to match any gains in production. Assuming that a landlord will always charge the maximum they can that market will sustain, any increase in production will mean an increase in what the market can pay for housing, and with time, what the landlord can extract from tenants. It neatly explains how cost of living correlates to jo…

Personally, I think one of the greatest mistakes of capitalism is to make property an investment asset.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#454

Post by judge2020 » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 3:01 AM UTC

arvinsim wrote: post #453

greiskul wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also the Georgian explanation that rent seeking landlords will always increase rent to match any gains in production. Assuming that a landlord will always charge the maximum they can that market will sustain, any increase in production will mean an increase in what the market can pay for housing, and with time, what the landlord can extract from tenants. It neatly explains how cost of living correlates to jo…

Personally, I think one of the greatest mistakes of capitalism is to make property an investment asset.

Nobody made it an investment asset, it just happened as certain pieces of land grew more valuable for practical reasons. This is unavoidable unless you make it so you can't sell property, which would also mean you can't buy property - the government would need to manage peoples' needs based on family size and do the maintenance of maintaining property to the same level as landlords.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#455

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 3:02 AM UTC

grapeskin wrote: post #427

crate_barre wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t that where remote work kicks in but we’re too stupid to realize? If the tech people don’t need to concentrate in one area, good luck jacking up the prices to siphon off that wealth. Tech needs to create a box. Literally, a hurricane proof box that that plugs into plumbing. Drop it anywhere in the world and fucking live in it. It’s the same box for everyone, like the iPhone, iPhones are not more expensive in Bay…

I know people living in those famously cheap Midwest areas people online always propose as the obvious solution to avoid high rents. Rents even in nowhere areas have blown up recently. And remote work really won’t change rents much for normal people. People want to live where their family and friends are, where some good restaurants are, where some good weekend activities are, where some nice nature is an hour or two…

> Rents even in nowhere areas have blown up recently.

Home owners are snapping up rentals to prepare to sell their property at market peak.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#456

Post by atlgator » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 3:05 AM UTC

It wasn't an Applebee's exec. It was an exec for a small, regional Applebee's franchisee.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#457

Post by wolverine876 » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 3:06 AM UTC

mrjangles wrote: post #309

colechristensen wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zoning. You link the "zones which employ people" and "zones which house people" to balance so you don't have significantly more jobs than homes. Next you zone for type of housing, where you only allow a certain percentage of the most profitable 1BR apartments to be built, and require those to be above certain size thresholds so that a variety of life situations can actually live in your city. You don't need to "incen…

The reason no one is building expensive apartments in these areas with socialist like governments is because of things like rent control and laws that disadvantage landlords, and which make the prospect of leasing to poor people completely undesirable. This is why a huge number of the apartments in California are sitting empty, because it is still better to have an empty apartment than having a poor person living the…

By some definition of 'expensive', probably there are more expensive apartments in NY, LA, and SF than anywhere else in the country. Those are probably the top three cities.

The reason rents and sale prices are high is that people love living in those areas.

> socialist like governments

How do you define that? Loaded terms are important to define; otherwise they become, 'whatever I think', which means different things to the writer and reader.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#458

Post by judge2020 » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 3:06 AM UTC

ben_w wrote: post #279

colechristensen wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zoning. You link the "zones which employ people" and "zones which house people" to balance so you don't have significantly more jobs than homes. Next you zone for type of housing, where you only allow a certain percentage of the most profitable 1BR apartments to be built, and require those to be above certain size thresholds so that a variety of life situations can actually live in your city. You don't need to "incen…

From what I’ve seen in and outside America, my gut feeling (I don’t claim expertise) is that zoning can make things worse. The apartment directly under mine is used as an office. Down and to one side is a psychiatrist. Ground floor is a cafe and a pizza takeaway. The apartment opposite me has a grocery store on the ground floor, an office on the second, a dentist on the third, and it looks like the rest of the units…

Zoning only became the downfall of American public transit because constituents are selfish; when 80%+ of a county's residents are homeowners, they're incentivized to fight back against anything that would cause their home values to drop (including public transit due to the noise and apartments which would reduce demand for single family homes), and the local politicians are incentivized to listen lest they be ousted in the next election for working against the community's interests.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#459

Post by gruez » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 3:10 AM UTC

Mezzie wrote: post #371

gruez wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>- Tie tax rates/benefits/penalties to the discrepancy between CEO/C-suite pay and average/lowest-paid employee pay All that's going to do is cause companies to jettison their lowest paying employees. For instance, Apple would outsource janitors to another company (i'm pretty sure they already do that) and spin out apple stores/genius to another company. That way, the only people you have left are tim cook and other…

That's the problem with trying to do ANYTHING in our current system: It's going to turn into a circus of definition abuse and loopholes. Not to mention the IRS would be sued to high heaven and this shit would take years to implement, if it were allowed at all. Our system is completely fucked. But we're all stopping shy of having THAT conversation, so to address some points: > All that's going to do is cause companies…

>Our system is completely fucked.

Yeah, turns out problems like these aren't easily solved, hence why they're not solved.

>True, but this would still overall be beneficial because the CEOs of those janitorial companies are now paid more in line with the janitors, which means that the working conditions are more likely to improve.

Amazon has contracted some of its delivery to DSPs, which are essentially what you described. Have those turned into a worker's paradise?

>Probably, but how many employees in America get year end bonuses? Because I've gotten like...2 and I've worked a decent range of jobs. They're way less common than you think. Yes, this would probably mean the people at the top would start taking from the middle instead of the bottom to retain their profit. It's not ideal, but I'd rather someone be stuck renting longer/have to cut their grocery bill (middle class) than end up homeless (lower class).

Not much, because there isn't pressure to game the regulatory system. When such measures are implemented, workarounds would surely spring up. It's not any different than how early in the pandemic, landlords gave move-in bonuses (rather than straight-up decreasing rent), because those bonuses could be easily taken away whereas rent could not easily increased.

Re: Applebee’s exec urges using high gas prices to push lower wages, sparks walkout

#460

Post by wolverine876 » Fri, Mar 25, 2022, 3:10 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #423

caddemon wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2 people sharing a 1 bedroom is a pretty low bar, I think minimum wage should afford someone their own bedroom. However I do often see people claiming no one should have to have any sort of roommates, even if they are a single minimum wage earner trying to support a spouse and children. I agree with you in that I don't understand why having to share a kitchen or living room is such an issue.

The problem is always finding good roommates who aren’t secretly murder hobos. Sharing can work, but it seems to be getting harder and harder as we have to rely more and more on close vetting via friends and family.

Why is it hard, and harder now, to find "good roommates who aren’t secretly murder hobos"? I and many others I know have found plenty of roommates, no problem. Not every roommate is perfect, including you and me, but there have been zero murder hobos.