Minimum Wage Hike Driving Up Food Prices In San Francisco
“A rising tide lifts all ships” is the saying often tossed out by those who support increases in the minimum wage. The idea is that is if you raise the floor on wages it will make everyone more prosperous.
What this analysis misses is that rising wages means more overhead for businesses which, in turn, means higher prices. That’s what has happened in San Francisco where a minimum wage of $10.24/hour has made it impossible for Subway to continue offering their famous “$5 footlong” deal:
The catchy Subway sandwich shop jingle involving a variety of foot-long sandwiches available for $5 doesn’t apply in San Francisco. Apparently, the city’s new minimum wage, raised to $10.24 as of January 1, make $5 footlongs an impossible business model.
This promotion has been a roaring success for Subway, credited with billions in additional sales.
The government can’t any more create prosperity by mandating higher wages then we could stop the tide from coming in by passing a law.