DC Democrats Pass $12.50 Minimum Wage Law… Wal-Mart Cancels Three Store Openings

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Isaac Newton’s Law of Motion

Washington DC Democrats passed a bill that would require retailers to pay workers at least $12.50 per hour.

Within hours of the decision Wal-Mart announced it was canceling three store openings in the area. Nice work, Democrats. WTOP reported:

The D.C. Council has passed a bill that would require large retailers like Wal-Mart to pay workers at least $12.50.

The bill now goes to Mayor Vincent Gray for his consideration. The 8-5 vote was short of the votes needed to override a veto from the mayor.

In a statement, Wal-Mart says the Council has forced the retailer’s hands and it will abandon three planned projects in the District.

“We will not pursue Skyland, Capitol Gateway, and New York Avenue and will start to review the financial and legal implications on the three stores already under construction. This was a difficult decision for us – and unfortunate news for most D.C. residents – but the Council has forced our hand,” the written statement says.

“Lets say a hamburger today costs $2”

say WHUT?

You must not get out much. I have 2 teenagers.
Lets work on consumer math first

A McDonald’s burger now costs from $5+ and up (make it a meal and add $3) except for occasional specials

a junk food “meal” (occasional treat) for my family of 3 runs almost $30.

So we stopped going except for milkshakes. The fries suck now anyway.

The McD parking lot is now emptier than ever and there is no drive through line anymore

end of consumer math 101

now the prevailing wage there is about $8 an hour
So extrapolating the cost of a sammich when the help gets paid double what they make now, no matter what, the sales volume goes down. Oh and the restaurant owner gets hit with his $100K annual rain tax here in MD aside from that. No obamacare - everyone goes part time

this isnt math, it’s economics and I bet McD has calculated how much business they lose everytime a burger goes up a penny

when wages double to $14 an hour you figure a $2 burger(which doesnt exist) goes up $.67 ... so how much does a $7 burger go up?

Maybe not so much- maybe the iconic Big Mac becomes a loss leader and they raise the price of coffee, fries and soda and stop giving out ketchup (in drivethrough you have to ask now) to try and stay in business.

Still the restaurant business drops ... by what?
Couple hundred thousand a year?
How many new employees you figure they hire (or keep) for that wage $14 an hour to handle that drop in business?
If 3 people could run an entire McD then maybe they could pay them $50 an hour. Maybe they go even more automated and hire less people

Might not be fast food anymore and dozens of former workers out on the streets again

Economics: even extra $.67 makes people stop buying. Eventually business changes or dies. Economics does not behave like math. it is an art, not a science!

btw pedantic sarcasm makes FR a lot more miserable than “misguided logic”

re: those minimum wage part time jobs we had as younsters.

That is part of the problem. The world we live in has too many workers for too few jobs. As a result, there is too much competition for jobs and the excess workers fall behind. Money and power are concentrating upward. The answer is that people need to keep their spending as local as possible, and object to invader labor replacing US citizens. So in that way, you're correct. If people shop at WalMart, they're supporting their wage structure. I do not.

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