Former McDonald's USA CEO: $35K Robots Cheaper Than Hiring at $15 Per Hour

[Pemalite]

fatslob-:O said:

Pemalite said:

The USA's Income inequality is one of the highest amongst the developed world.
See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States#International_comparisons

Ranked 41 out of 141. Ouch!

In the end, if you are happy with the status quo, who am I to argue? I don't live there, but I do have a higher standard of living than the majority of Americans.

Income equality =/= Poverty ... 

Who said anything about being happy with the status quo ? It would be great if everyone were rich in fantasy land of course ... 

There is still many chances to be had to get wealthy in the US compared to the over half the countries which have lower income equality ... 

Income Equality plays a part with poverty, up to a point.

But even then the USA has almost 50 million people living in poverty .
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/

The amount of people living near poverty add's 10's of millions more to that number, bringing it to almost 100 million.

fatslob-:O said:

Pemalite said:

 

You would not save much money.

A rise in the minimum wage will likely mean a rise for all other employment that trends higher than minimum wage, that offsets the small extra costs in your burgers, it also ensures people can have a higher standard of living, something the USA is falling behind on... And took a fairly chunky hit during the GFC.

Remember I live in a country where the minimum wage is higher than $15 (Almost $17), I am living on the other side of the divide.

It would save a lot more than you think. Robots practically work 24 hours with minimal downtime to boot. It would probably take less than 10 months to make the money back ... 

Just like how some PC gamers keep proclaiming savings in the long run I'll do the same for automation ... 

Better productivity = better performance 

A heavily pro-PC gamer isn't all that different from an automation evangelist since they both believe in something that's ultimately superior ...

Robots will replace humans eventually anyway, that's progress.

However, do keep in mind that Australia has had a minimum wage of $15 or more for almost a decade and robots haven't replaced our workforce yet, but with technology becoming more advanced and cheaper, it's only a matter of time even in the USA.

American minimum wages have been stagnant for decades, despite inflation, a dollar today is worth less than a dollar 10 years ago... Thus an hours work today is worth less than it is 10 years ago. - In 1970 the minimum wage was $1.60 an hour. Today if you account for inflation... Would be worth $10.71. Instead it's $7-$9 in most states. Why? Because a few people are worried about a few cents extra on unhealthy food? Please.