In the “least surprising economic news of 2016” we have this from McDonald’s.
What do ya know? It’s cheaper to have a tablet take an order and payment than pay someone $15/hour to ask if the customer would like fries with their meal.
Well… I guess some people have to learn economic lessons the hard way. Demanding higher pay for zero skill jobs is not effective.
It’s time to consider providing a basic income instead of trying (and repeatedly failing miserably) to legislate the world into your version of “better.”
More jobs are going to be automated every year. And no amount of raising the minimum wage will give you the outcome you desire.
And lowering the corporate tax to 15% like Trump wants to do won’t bring jobs back to the US. It may bring corporate HQ here, but the low- and no-skill jobs aren’t going to appear because we gave corporations a tax cut.
That will increase profits for the wealthy only. The corporate execs and Wall St bankers and financiers benefit greatly from this, but the middle-class American will not.
Middle-class America is getting squeezed from both ends. The only way to stop it is provide basic income and increase competition in the market.
Want working people to thrive? Eliminate the income tax. That would give working people a 20-33% raise overnight!
Raise the corporate tax to cover the difference. Then replace all the entitlements programs with one simple basic income.
It just makes the most sense economically. And until we do things that make economic sense, we are going to struggle greatly.