The Restaurant Industry Is Now Enjoying Bidenomics, and They're Not Enjoying It Much

In California, restaurants and fast food chains are taking the hit from the eyepopping $20/per hour minimum wage.

Menu prices in California will rise once again when a new law goes into effect in the summer, a double-whammy after fast-food chains in the state hiked prices to help pay for the $20 minimum wage the state imposed last month.

Restaurant owners in the state are warning that a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans "junk fees" in the state starting July 1 will force them to raise prices because it prohibits restaurant surcharges and fees.

Restaurant owners have often relied on surcharges to provide their employees benefits like health care. Some businesses would note surcharges on menus, and others would make them optional, with the decision left to the customer.

However, the new law is prompting restaurant owners to hike prices on their menus to comply with the new law.

California's attorney general confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle this week that restaurant surcharges and fees would be illegal under the new law in a blow to the industry.

Golden Gate Restaurant Association Director Laurie Thomas told CBS News Bay Area the law will put restaurants in a tough spot with either lower wages for employees or by discouraging customers with higher prices.

"So, now, do you take their rate down and do you go to an old-fashioned tip model and say to your servers, 'You have to tip the whole house, but that drops everybody's salaries' or do you raise your prices 20%, 25%?" Thomas said. "It might make a lot of customers happier. They might say, 'We understand why prices went up.' Let's hope that happens. But I don't know if our industry can hope that's what happens. They're still struggling. It's been a tough year."

Unexpectedly, the restaurant sector is now downsizing. Or should I say, Bidensizing.

Starbucks announced a surprise drop in same-store sales for its latest quarter, sending its shares down 17% on Wednesday. Pizza Hut and KFC also reported shrinking same-store sales. And even stalwart McDonald's said it has adopted a "street-fighting mentality" to compete for value-minded diners.

For months, economists have been predicting that consumers would cut back on their spending in response to higher prices and interest rates. But it's taken a while for fast-food chains to see their sales actually shrink, despite several quarters of warnings to investors that low-income consumers were weakening and other diners were trading down from pricier options.

You just hate to see it happen to Google, too. Google to lay off 200 " " " workers. " " "

The NY Post:

The job cuts -- announced internally on the eve of Google's blowout first-quarter earnings report -- targeted members of Google's "core" team, which works on the "technical foundation behind the company's flagship products" as well as the online safety of users and its global IT infrastructure, according to its website.

At least 50 of the roles were based at Google's headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. Google is expected to hire replacement workers for the roles in Mexico and India, CNBC reported, citing a review of internal documents.

"Announcements of this sort may leave many of you feeling uncertain or frustrated," Asim Husain, vice president of Google Developer Ecosystem said in an email to staffers last week announcing the cuts, according to CNBC.

But... Google's AI was such a smash success!

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 03:28 PM

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