Why the Price of Lattes (and Everything Else) Has Gone Up

[ChristineM]

A coffee in France ranges between €1 for an espresso to €2.75 for something a bit bigger and fancier?

There are places that charge more. The most expensive coffee costs 14 euros at WINDO Skybar in Paris

 

[Subduction Zone]

What a steal! I got to the register and was charged $8 the other day.

I am sure that it will vary with brand, location, etc. And I was thinking "Oh great, this is going to be expensive". I was pleasantly surprised.

Oh wait . . .by any chance was your barista wearing a bikini? Yeah, we have those places too. Who cares what the coffee tastes like.

 

[Twilight Hue]

What's the point of getting raises if businesses are just going to jack up prices defeating the entire purpose for getting or having a raise in the first place.

Businesses will never sacrifice profits, that's the problem, instead they just jack up the costs instead, making things worse and worse for people who have enough trouble just staying afloat making it a vicious cycle that will make things more and more and more expensive absolutely no end in sight.

I actually see 10 to 15 dollar loafs of bread in the next twenty years or so. That's my personal prediction.

 

[Left Coast]

I am sure that it will vary with brand, location, etc. And I was thinking "Oh great, this is going to be expensive". I was pleasantly surprised.

Oh wait . . .by any chance was your barista wearing a bikini? Yeah, we have those places too. Who cares what the coffee tastes like.

I'm gay as a goose but if the barista looked like this I'd feel the same :

 

[Subduction Zone]

I'm gay as a goose but if the barista looked like this I'd feel the same :

View attachment 83094

Umm, no. My city tried to ban them twice. They had to pay out $500,000 the second time. I will have to old school a spoiler. This is a typical bikini barista. No nudity,but dang close:

Spoiler

Edited. Had to get up and use my PC. This definitely needs a spoiler. No "naughty bits" but too much skin is showing not to have one.

 

[Subduction Zone]

@Left Coast , I edited my post, And for you:

Shirtless male baristas are serving up espresso in Seattle

A sign reads 'Hot Guys Serving Hot Coffee' in front of the new Dreamboyz Espresso near Broadway and Harrison on Capitol Hill.

www.king5.com

 

[Left Coast]

@Left Coast , I edited my post, And for you:

Shirtless male baristas are serving up espresso in Seattle

A sign reads 'Hot Guys Serving Hot Coffee' in front of the new Dreamboyz Espresso near Broadway and Harrison on Capitol Hill.

www.king5.com

Road trip!

 

[fantome profane]

I understand the well-intentioned impetus behind that sentiment. It does have tradeoffs, though.

Not paying a living wage also comes with trade offs.

 

[Debater Slayer]

They can and they do. In the UK alone there are plenty of people who are working and but are also in poverty.
- CIPD | Tackling in-work poverty

I'm sure the world is awash with this. Sweatshop labour.

"Sweatshop workers are paid as little as 3 cents per hour working up to 100+ hours"​

- The World Counts​

I know the reality is that this happens; what I said was my viewpoint (i.e., that I believe a company can't afford to be in business if it can't pay its workers living wages). I don't view relying on a modern form of slave labor as a legitimate or ethical way of being "in business," and I know there are many people who share my view—including many business owners.

 

[Left Coast]

Not paying a living wage also comes with trade offs.

What constitutes a "living wage" has of course been recalculated over the years. The reality is, most people making minimum wage right now will be making much more than that in a few years. It's a wage for entry level workers. Once people gain experience and education, nearly everyone moves up the ladder, either through raises or promotions or jobs that pay more to more experienced and educated employees. So the question is, to what degree do we skew the ladder for those folks at the very beginning of their careers, and what will it cost?

 

[fantome profane]

What constitutes a "living wage" has of course been recalculated over the years. The reality is, most people making minimum wage right now will be making much more than that in a few years. It's a wage for entry level workers. Once people gain experience and education, nearly everyone moves up the ladder, either through raises or promotions or jobs that pay more to more experienced and educated employees. So the question is, to what degree do we skew the ladder for those folks at the very beginning of their careers, and what will it cost?

I don't buy into the "entry level worker theory". It may have been true at one time, but I don't think it is anymore. I don't think it has been true for a long time. People work at so called "entry level positions" for years never moving up, trying to raise a family on that entry level wage.

 

[F1fan]

If you want businesses not to be able to afford to stay in business by perpetually increasing what counts as a living wage (or what counts as a reasonable benefits package)...that's not a great plan.

The Confederates had a plan.

How many business owners or executives have you spoken to about this? The lived reality of many business owners is that it takes years for them to make any net profit at all (if they ever do), much less to gouge for some exorbitant margin that the market can't sustain.

Then the market can't sustain it. If there are 20 coffee shops in a town and the market can't sustain that many they will all suffer. Cutting wages isn't the way to keep the shops on life support.

Moreover, profit isn't some inherently evil thing. Profits are useful, for example, to enable a business to expand, which is good for people who want the goods or services of that business. Inhibiting profit has tradeoffs.

Sure. But how is it good business where the only way for an owner to profit is to cut wages? Why is the burden on workers?

 

[Left Coast]

I don't buy into the "entry level worker theory". It may have been true at one time, but I don't think it is anymore. I don't think it has been true for a long time. People work at so called "entry level positions" for years never moving up, trying to raise a family on that entry level wage.

The numbers, thankfully, don't lie. Minimum wage workers composed 1.4% of wage workers in the US in 2021.

Characteristics of minimum wage workers, 2021 https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2021/pdf/home.pdf

How about you? How much has your pay increased since you started working?

 

[Left Coast]

The Confederates had a plan.

Then the market can't sustain it. If there are 20 coffee shops in a town and the market can't sustain that many they will all suffer. Cutting wages isn't the way to keep the shops on life support.

Sure. But how is it good business where the only way for an owner to profit is to cut wages? Why is the burden on workers?

I didn't say anything about cutting wages. I'm not sure where you got that from.

 

[We Never Know]

Why your $7 latte is $7

That Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks is going to cost you more than it used to, thanks to inflation and higher wages for workers, among other factors.

www.vox.com

The money to pay people increased wages, better benefits, etc. comes from somewhere. Namely you, dear consumer.

Thoughts?

With California passing a bill paying fast food workers $20, those fast food prices will most surely rise right along with it.


"On September 28, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) No. 1228 into law, repealing the FAST Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Recovery Act) (AB 257) and replacing it with a $20-per-hour minimum wage for fast food workers, among other provisions"

California Governor Signs Fast Food Industry Minimum Wage Law

On September 28, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) No. 1228 into law, repealing the FAST Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Recovery Act) (AB 257) and replacing it with a $20-per-hour minimum wage for fast food workers, among other provisions.

ogletree.com

 

[anna.]

Why your $7 latte is $7

That Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks is going to cost you more than it used to, thanks to inflation and higher wages for workers, among other factors.

www.vox.com

The money to pay people increased wages, better benefits, etc. comes from somewhere. Namely you, dear consumer.

Thoughts?

Real and nominal value of the minimum wage U.S. 2023 | Statista

When adjusted for inflation, the 2023 federal minimum wage in the United States is around 40 percent lower than the minimum wage in 1970.

www.statista.com

 

[Shaul]

Because Bidenomics.

 

[anna.]

Because Bidenomics.

No. Because tax shelters for corporations and tax breaks for the rich.

 

[Shaul]

No. Because tax shelters for corporations and tax breaks for the rich.

Well, now. Since the price increases have taken off during Biden's term that leaves two alternatives. One is that if rising prices are due to tax shelters for corporations and tax breaks for the rich truly are the causes then Biden must be increasing those. But if he isn't increasing those then tax shelters for corporations and tax breaks for the rich must not be the true causes. Which do you prefer?

 

[ADigitalArtist]

What constitutes a "living wage" has of course been recalculated over the years. The reality is, most people making minimum wage right now will be making much more than that in a few years. It's a wage for entry level workers. Once people gain experience and education, nearly everyone moves up the ladder, either through raises or promotions or jobs that pay more to more experienced and educated employees. So the question is, to what degree do we skew the ladder for those folks at the very beginning of their careers, and what will it cost?

To be clear minimum wage was created post depression with the specific intent to, at minimum, sustain a family of four.

It wasn't meant for teens or people early in their careers (ironically part of the reason it existed was so parents didn't have to send their kids to work just to make family finances stable), but farmers and factory workers and shopkeepers and other common laborers. Because people that aren't on career paths still deserve to be able to make ends meet, no matter what demographics they're in.