McDonalds Economic Stalling

[CJM]

McDonald's seems to be participating in "stalling" the economy, by presently lowering the prices of its combos.

Prices going up can be bad. Essentials such as rent and medical care are generally held in disregard for price increases. Little luxuries like McDonald's can be cut back, though that would hurt McDonald's business.

Prices going down can also be bad. As a corporate entity acting on behalf of the working class and poverty classes, negotiates with the middle and upper classes for profits and wages. Reversing inflation is nigh impossible, so compensating for inflation is generally the preferred route. Stagnating prices, facilitating wage stagnation, stalls the economy.

Vehicle prices are already prohibitively expensive, to own and maintain. Will major automobile manufacturers follow McDonald's lead? Will the hyper inflated auto industry break first, or will the working class that McDonald's employs break first? Are we just playing yet another game of chicken with the apocalypse?

[eram]

You'll die if you live on nothing but McDonald's

[vkobe]

their service and quality are lower than aew, wendy, harveys and subway in my town

[Xero_Daxter]

Most McDonalds combos are 10 dollars in my area. Even with the “buy one get 1 for 1 dollar” you’re spending at least 5 dollars minimum. Because a double cheese burger is 3 dollars something, add 1 dollar, and plus tax, that’s 5 dollars at the least.

[CJM]

Originally posted by vkobe:

their service and quality are lower than aew, wendy, harveys and subway in my town

Wendy's is horrible in my town. They serve barely adequate food and their potatoes are atrocious. Worse, the restaurant seems to steal Credit Card numbers and engage in other forms of fraud. It defines the bottom of the barrel.

McDonald's is a top tier fast food establishment, locally. Second only to the local fan favorite Chic-fil-A. Third place seems to be the old classic "Dairy Queen".

Captain D's used to be a top tier, but with 30 minute waits in the Drive-Thru, the local Captain D's wasn't really a properly "fast" restaurant. It was more casual dining with a drive-thru, perhaps due to a lack of more sophisticated seafood establishments. We had a Red Lobster, but it didn't survive COVID.

Other fast food restaurants come and go, and are a mixed bag.

[76561199804438383]

Nothing good comes out of eating at McDonalds

[Xero_Daxter]

Originally posted by 76561199804438383:

Nothing good comes out of eating at McDonalds

Their fries are kinda banger tho. Not gonna lie.

[CJM]

Originally posted by 76561199804438383:

Nothing good comes out of eating at McDonalds

Artificial Intelligence is an existential threat, and McDonald's looks to be a future career opportunity if going to college a second time doesn't accomplish anything either. (The mark of insanity is doing the same thing, expecting different results).

A.I. is attacking my financial solvency from one direction. Your "healthy eating" campaign is attacking my financial solvency from another direction. McDonald's corporate is attacking my financial solvency it from still another direction.

[76561199804438383]

Originally posted by CJM:

Originally posted by 76561199804438383:

Nothing good comes out of eating at McDonalds

Artificial Intelligence is an existential threat, and McDonald's looks to be a future career opportunity if going to college a second time doesn't accomplish anything either. (The mark of insanity is doing the same thing, expecting different results).

A.I. is attacking my financial solvency from one direction. Your "healthy eating" campaign is attacking my financial solvency from another direction. McDonald's corporate is attacking my financial solvency it from still another direction.

Sorry for your solvency problem.

I wish you could be filthy rich like me.

[man.]

Originally posted by Xero_Daxter:

Originally posted by 76561199804438383:

Nothing good comes out of eating at McDonalds

Their fries are kinda banger tho. Not gonna lie.

Their fries are banger for like maybe 10 minutes, soggy and depressing disappointments after that

[CJM]

Originally posted by 76561199804438383:

Sorry for your solvency problem.

I wish you could be filthy rich like me.

I just want to be respectable, not "filthy rich".

A central part of my focus has been on getting a sustainable income, financial solvency. In the modern world that seems to mean the equivalent of an average two-income household.

In following traditional conservative values of waiting until marriage, the end goal must come before the means. I need a respectable two-income household, before I start dating. This is the Christian code of honor. Failing this I dishonor myself, and potentially dishonor my family (depending on the judginess of whatever group I am associating with).

An attack on my financial solvency, is an attack on my respectability. Losing respectability is assumed to be a further attack on my financial solvency,...

The cart is being put before the horse, and I am seeking to resolve the discrepancy.

[Tonepoet]

Honestly? "Can be" does not mean "is", particularly with regard to prices coming back down. The hiked prices we are currently paying for food are representative of plague related supply chain difficulties that no longer exist.

Part of Biden's mandate was to end the covid crisis so that things could go back to normal, but instead we were sold on this idea of a new normal and Americans in particular are very dissatisfied with this new normal[www.pbs.org]. This is possibly the reason The Biden/Kamala ticket lost.

It's not the wage or the prices that matters. It's how they work together to form purchasing power. If the corporations were paying the working class man wages that were reflective of this increased inflation, that might be one thing, but I very much suspect they are not.

I suspect all of that extra money is going straight to the pockets of the executives and the investors, and if so, this is a very bad show of faith on their part. I do not mind that there is wealth inequality in the U.S.A., but that stance is conditional. The executives and the investors have to be contributing to a standard of living for the everyday folk that merits their inflated wages. If they're just looking to nickle and dime the American public wherever they can get away with it, whenever they can, like Gold Saucher Midgarians, then screw 'em. They can stand to pitch into the struggle a little bit, just like everybody else did.

Everybody wants deflation right now. The democrats want it. They passed that inflation reduction act in 2022, so named to get across to the American public that they were fighting the excessive costs. Kamala ran in part on the platform of price rigging the groceries, (although there was little confidence in her plan, and no reason the Biden administration could not have implemented it while she was on the campaign trail). Vance had his egg price stint about the cost of groceries. Trump is bragging about how prices are coming back down, even though for the most-part they don't seem to be.

Fast food isn't always a luxury either. Truckers who have scant to no kitchen accomodations in their big rigs sometimes go through drivethroughs (if they can fit) and there's usually some sort of fast food establishment at a truck stop. Hopefully this could also have a knock-on effect on the price of ground beef.

If we hear of layoffs or wage cuts of crewmembers, then maybe I can sympathize with the notion that prices shouldn't come back down. If it's just coming out of the pockets of investors or execs though, then I think McDonalds is doing the right thing.

Also possibly the very much necessary thing. McDonalds ain't a charity, y'know. They're not doing this out of the goodness of their own heart. Nobody beats supply and demand, and demand demand for McDonalds is down[www.nbcnews.com] If they really are lowering prices (and I haven't checked), it's likely in a bid to ensure that they're still getting a steady stream of customers. No customers means no profit, and the whole house of cards collapses. Lowering prices marginally is more sensible than just letting their lettuce and tomatoes rot, or their buns get moldy.

I don't think moping about deflation is warranted at this point in time, and especially not at McDonalds of all places. We don't need more investments in McDonalds locations, really. There are too many of 'em in the world as it stands. Plus out of all of the fast food establishments, they are possibly the worst brand, rivaled in this regard perhaps only by K.F.C.

'sides, if you don't like it, there are plenty of other burger establishments you can eat at, or you can even make your own using your own high priced ground beef.

It's not hard to make a hamburger truth be told. You hand pat a third of a pound puck and cook it for three or four minutes on each side and proceed to make a sandwich with it. That's pretty much it.

[DoctorBalls]

The only thing that matters is balls size

[vkobe]

Originally posted by CJM:

Originally posted by vkobe:

their service and quality are lower than aew, wendy, harveys and subway in my town

Wendy's is horrible in my town. They serve barely adequate food and their potatoes are atrocious. Worse, the restaurant seems to steal Credit Card numbers and engage in other forms of fraud. It defines the bottom of the barrel.

McDonald's is a top tier fast food establishment, locally. Second only to the local fan favorite Chic-fil-A. Third place seems to be the old classic "Dairy Queen".

Captain D's used to be a top tier, but with 30 minute waits in the Drive-Thru, the local Captain D's wasn't really a properly "fast" restaurant. It was more casual dining with a drive-thru, perhaps due to a lack of more sophisticated seafood establishments. We had a Red Lobster, but it didn't survive COVID.

Other fast food restaurants come and go, and are a mixed bag.

dont know man, wendy best food is their french fries, rest are meh, i prefer harveys and aew burger

but mcdonald service really look crap

[76561199799407472]

Sony raised their ps5 prices by 250 dollars only in the usa. This is a great and wonderful thing.

[Tonepoet]

Originally posted by ghost:

Sony raised their ps5 prices by 250 dollars only in the usa. This is a great and wonderful thing.

Not quite true. They increased prices in Europe, Australia and New Zealand earlier in the year[blog.playstation.com]. Felt weird that they didn't do it for the U.S.A. at that point, particularly since it was the U.S.A. imposing tariffs, not anywhere else, and normally consoles should be depreciating in value.