According to some of our right-wing math wizards, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would double the cost of a Big Mac (I have heard as much as $20.00 a sandwich).
That said, let's play along with the Einsteins on the conservative end of the abacus. If the price of a Big Mac merely doubled, McDonalds would only need to sell one burger an hour to cover the increase for the fry cook, another for the cashier and one for the window worker (add another sale for each additional employee). The rest of the price increase would be pure profit, baby. Nice. The point: doubling the price of a Big Mac is a wild exaggeration of how raising the minimum wage will affect the cost of fast food.
This is all based on the ravings from the right that a Mac would double in price. They picked this fight, not me.
The average price is around $3.50 for a BM. So, if Mickey charged $7.00, they would have an extra $3.50 per burger sold. This would more than pay for a $2.95 increase for each worker (actually, the average pay is over $7.25 making the pay increase less than $2.95). Now, I would have to guess they sell several hundred menu items an hour on average. Considering this, is doubling the cost necessary? Do you get the drift? A few cents increase per item will cover any labour cost increase.
This is not rocket science. I love how conservatives love to brag about knowing business when they cannot do simple math (it makes you wonder what the business wannabes are learning at Capella University). They better hope more liberals do not go into business. Righties will be run out of business by the pinko commies. By the way, Australia found a way to still sells Big Macs for the same price as us while paying nearly $15 an hour minimum wage.
One more point: In the late nineties, there was a labour shortage. It seemed every fast food joint had signs on the windows asking for help. The starting wage: $10 per hour. This was when the minimum wage was $5.15 per hour (this effectively doubled the wage.) The price of a Big Mac went nowhere. This is solid evidence of the inaccuracy of the hyperbolic rants from the right-wing.
Another point: The businesses are getting as much as they can, already. If they could charge more they would. Competition and demand set the price. Wages may increase the cost of doing business, but it is not determinative for the price charged for an item. A one to one correlation does not exist.
The price of a pair of Nikes may be $100.00 with a total production cost of $4. A similar pair of Payless sneakers may cost $3 and sell for $15. Each company tries to get as much as they can. McDonalds is getting as much as they think they can for a burger. If they raise prices and Burger King does not, many will go to Burger King. Mickey is stuck. Raising wages will cut into profit, but any price increase is arguable.
Do not buy the hyperbolic spin from the ditto heads. Instead buy more Big Macs with your raise.
Final rant: President Obama is hurting the cause by backing $10.10 an hour. Seattle just passed $15 and pressure across the country is for a much higher minimum wage than $10.10 by 2016. The president is actually blunting the movement. You must wonder if Larry Summers and Tim Pawlenty are Obama's puppeteers.