Biden's presidency

[Tigeraholic1]

3 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

The issue was that higher wages would lead to companies charging more for their goods. That is only true in a sense. Increase in wages outpaced the increase in the cost of goods that company provided, meaning McDonald's can raise the wages of workers. There's no reason that McDonald's can't raise the salary in Texas without increasing prices. 

There's more to the cost of gas in California than employee wages which is what this was about. New Hampshire pays McDonald's employees $15.01 and they don't have income tax and their gas prices are $3.23. 

You just said Cali resident have higher buying power. But if you take into account fuel, rent, food costing more I don't see the "buying power" advantage.

[gehringer_2]

57 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Average Big Mac costs $5.11 in California. The average cost in Texas is $4.39. That's a 14% increase. Average hourly rate of a crew worker in California is $14.86. In Texas it is $11.11. That is a 33% increase. While higher wages do raise the cost of goods, the entire wages increase isn't rolled into the price of goods. 

There's more. I know the retort will be well they work less hours. The average annual salary in California is $30,906 vs $23,106 in Texas. An increase of 33% so it doesn't appear hours are affected at all. 

And the difference between Tx and Ca is more than just wages. For example, real estate costs for the franchise in CA are probably something like double on average.

[Motown Bombers]

2 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

And the difference between Tx and Ca is more than just wages. For example, real estate costs for the franchise in CA are probably something like double on average.

That's another good point. Property tax rates are higher in Texas but the cost of property is obviously higher in California. 

[Motown Bombers]

4 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

You just said Cali resident have higher buying power. But if you take into account fuel, rent, food costing more I don't see the "buying power" advantage.

Like I said based on purchasing a Big Mac. The gas prices in California have nothing to do with the wages since California has the highest gas tax in the country. 

[Tigeraholic1]

2 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Like I said based on purchasing a Big Mac. The gas prices in California have nothing to do with the wages since California has the highest gas tax in the country. 

Good talk, I appriciate the debate. There are a few guys in here (In this thread to be exact) I would never want to hangout with. Alot of raised noses, cheers.

[Jim Cowan]

4 hours ago, buddha said:

what do you think of trudeau?

He is relatively harmless compared to the alternatives.  He is less popular domestically than he seems to be internationally.  He isn't as smart as his father, not even close, but he's not as arrogant either.  He has made a couple of public relations faux pas that make him seem very hypocritical and cynical.  I am not a big fan, but I have voted for him.  I think that a minority government, which is what we have now, is a good outcome.

[1984Echoes]

9 hours ago, Cartman said:

#Bideninflation

Annual inflation rises to 6.8 percent, the highest rate since 1982

Immaterial.

But it is boosting the value of my dividend paying stocks, and home value.

Yeah Inflation!

[1984Echoes]

4 hours ago, Archie said:

Part of the increase in price of goods is the shortage of those goods.  Many shelves are empty.  Car Dealer lots are empty and price of all cars including used cars have increased....

WOW!!!

Archie hit upon the correct issue here.

The REASON there is inflation, is because supplies (and the production thereof) have not yet caught up with demand. Bottlenecked logistics are also part of the supply problem. This is true in housing, as well as consumer goods.

Demand > supply = inflation. It's as simple as that.

That is inflation 101 for anyone who has an interest...

[1984Echoes]

3 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

That's another good point. Property tax rates are higher in Texas but the cost of property is obviously higher in California. 

Property Tax Rates are WORSE than the Cost of Property in the sense that: Property Cost is also Equity. Real Estate may cost more in Cali, but that also means more Equity is being built. Property Taxes are... in the toilet. Just flush it right down. Higher Property Taxes in Texas means their Income Tax advantage is reduced.

The only issues with higher property values are: (A) Affordability. Must be able to afford those monthly payments! (If not, you might be shut out of owning a home). And (B) related: a loss of job, or a real estate crash means either the property is under water or you can no longer afford the mortgage payment. Both are losing issues.

[chasfh]

4 hours ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

No idea what you are talking about. You just said they would stop buying if it cost to much.

You're the one who specified milk and bread. I was just asking whether those are the only products you were talking about.

Anyway, back to the question: when prices rise, people tend to buy less, or trade down to cheaper alternatives. This is also Economics 101. My question to you is, what happens to the company that raised the prices in the first place when people buy less or buy from someone else? How will they respond?

[Tigeraholic1]

2 hours ago, 1984Echoes said:

Property Tax Rates are WORSE than the Cost of Property in the sense that: Property Cost is also Equity. Real Estate may cost more in Cali, but that also means more Equity is being built. Property Taxes are... in the toilet. Just flush it right down. Higher Property Taxes in Texas means their Income Tax advantage is reduced.

The only issues with higher property values are: (A) Affordability. Must be able to afford those monthly payments! (If not, you might be shut out of owning a home). And (B) related: a loss of job, or a real estate crash means either the property is under water or you can no longer afford the mortgage payment. Both are losing issues.

California is a Landlord state. Outside of DC they are the lowest home ownership (Michigan is #1) and tracking down yoy for a decade. Even middle class rent. No equity for renters just another staggering expense. 

 

[Tigeraholic1]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

You're the one who specified milk and bread. I was just asking whether those are the only products you were talking about.

Anyway, back to the question: when prices rise, people tend to buy less, or trade down to cheaper alternatives. This is also Economics 101. My question to you is, what happens to the company that raised the prices in the first place when people buy less or buy from someone else? How will they respond?

It would depend on what you are selling. Can you lower profit loss by cutting expenses? I guess without knowing the product it’s all conjecture.

[Motown Bombers]

1 hour ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

California is a Landlord state. Outside of DC they are the lowest home ownership (Michigan is #1) and tracking down yoy for a decade. Even middle class rent. No equity for renters just another staggering expense. 

 

There is more to the housing crisis in California than wages. One of the biggest obstacles is California has strict zoning laws against building multi-family homes. California is also highly desirable. The best weather in the country is in Southern California. It's basic economics. Supply and demand. Bumblescum Mississippi is cheap because no one wants to live there. California is a high income state. Not in the fact it pays higher wages, but it has industries such as the tech industry that have higher income jobs regardless of profession. California has more millionaires and billionaires than any other state. California also has strict building codes due to threats of earthquakes. Buildable land is also at a premium. California has lots of mountains, particularly along it's coasts, that makes building sprawling cities challenging. There's a lot of pieces to California's housing crisis but keep in mind California has more people than the entire country of Canada and only 4% the land area Canada has. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

7 hours ago, Jim Cowan said:

He is relatively harmless compared to the alternatives.  He is less popular domestically than he seems to be internationally.  He isn't as smart as his father, not even close, but he's not as arrogant either.  He has made a couple of public relations faux pas that make him seem very hypocritical and cynical.  I am not a big fan, but I have voted for him.  I think that a minority government, which is what we have now, is a good outcome.

The NDP's Jagmeet Singh is the real deal/ It's too bad his chances of being Prime Minster ever run into the negatives and less than territories. Of course, he's as left as you can get, but a real solid, honest guy for the people.

[pfife]

I love how "worst inflation since 1982" doesn't make anyone think "why would we want to elect those that herald policies that had this mess in 1982 when there wasn't a worldwide pandemic going on"

 

[oblong]

16 minutes ago, pfife said:

I love how "worst inflation since 1982" doesn't make anyone think "why would we want to elect those that herald policies that had this mess in 1982 when there wasn't a worldwide pandemic going on"

 

1982 was back when George Will was speculating that Bush was going to dump Reagan from the ticket. 

[pfife]

Gop:   inflation is cool when the gop is president 

[mtutiger]

15 hours ago, 1984Echoes said:

Property Tax Rates are WORSE than the Cost of Property in the sense that: Property Cost is also Equity. Real Estate may cost more in Cali, but that also means more Equity is being built. Property Taxes are... in the toilet. Just flush it right down. Higher Property Taxes in Texas means their Income Tax advantage is reduced.

The only issues with higher property values are: (A) Affordability. Must be able to afford those monthly payments! (If not, you might be shut out of owning a home). And (B) related: a loss of job, or a real estate crash means either the property is under water or you can no longer afford the mortgage payment. Both are losing issues.

Property Taxes in Texas are no joke... its not New Jersey or Illinois bad, but they are still pretty bad.

In terms of cost of housing in Texas, we are lucky we purchased in 2016... Austin is already going the way of Seattle or LA in terms of housing cost. And unless something changes,  DFW, where I live, will go that way as well. 

[chasfh]

12 hours ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

It would depend on what you are selling. Can you lower profit loss by cutting expenses? I guess without knowing the product it’s all conjecture.

That’s one way. You could also lower prices in order to move product to try increase profit or cut losses through volume.

[Tigeraholic1]

12 minutes ago, chasfh said:

That’s one way. You could also lower prices in order to move product to try increase profit or cut losses through volume.

True if there is meat on the bone. My wholesale business operates on a 10% margin because we are not the end user.  

Edited December 11, 2021 by Tigeraholic1

[Jim Cowan]

11 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

The NDP's Jagmeet Singh is the real deal/ It's too bad his chances of being Prime Minster ever run into the negatives and less than territories. Of course, he's as left as you can get, but a real solid, honest guy for the people.

He displays the most common sense of any of the 3 main party leaders, but the disappearance of unuionized manufacturing jobs puts his party dead in the water before an election even starts.  The other 2 parties always shamelessly suck up to the teachers who by default are the strongest remaining group in organized labour, and the NDP can not establish a base there.  But I agree, for a professional politician he is the closest thing that we have to a decent human being.

[Tiger337]

On 12/10/2021 at 8:42 AM, Cartman said:

#Bideninflation

Annual inflation rises to 6.8 percent, the highest rate since 1982

So, inflation is back to what it was in the Reagan era.  Are you saying that Reagan was a bad president?

[Tiger337]

2 hours ago, pfife said:

Gop:   inflation is cool when the gop is president 

Especially when it's Reagan.  

[Tiger337]

23 hours ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

let me give you an example:

Do you remember during 2020 when the government paid a  large percentage of americans to stay home? Then a large portion of them said " I won't come back to work for that pay level"? Many employers had to start paying higher wages to lower income folks to get them back into the work force right? Do employers eat that cost? No, they pass the buck to the consumer. Hmmm what happens next, cost of consumable goods goes up. So said folks who got a bump from $13 per hour to $14-15 is negated due to higher costs. It's economics 101 my friend. 

 

Labor shortage is a huge problem, but I think the reason for the shortage is more complicated than what you are suggesting.  Even states that didn't give the unemployment boost have shortages.  I think Covid convinced a lot of low payed employees that kept working during Covid that they weren't appreciated, so they are looking for better jobs.  It also made people in the service industry not want to come back until they believe Covid is under control.  Then there are older people with a lot of money saved who decided to quit because they saw how unstressful it was not having to work.  

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Labor shortage is a huge problem, but I think the reason for the shortage is more complicated than what you are suggesting.  Even states that didn't give the unemployment boost have shortages.  I think Covid convinced a lot of low payed employees that kept working during Covid that they weren't appreciated, so they are looking for better jobs.  It also made people in the service industry not want to come back until they believe Covid is under control.  Then there are older people with a lot of money saved who decided to quit because they saw how unstressful it was not having to work.  

It's also the the larger demographic trend. The very center of the baby boom is exactly at retirement age so you have an unprecedented number of people leaving the labor force. On the other end the cost of child care drives more parents with small children out of the low wage workforce because the income trade off is not good enough. Higher wages won't do much to stem retirements, but they could pull more parents who are at home back into the workforce.

Edited December 11, 2021 by gehringer_2