Agreed. Unless you have no more credit, I can’t see how an emergency fund takes priority over paying off debt. My gut feeling is that lowering interest expenses now means that sudden expenses will not result in interest payments as high as if the money were going into the fund… While you’re paying interest, as long as you have credit that credit is your emergency fund, unless you find something that pays you more in interest than you’re paying out.
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Took the words right outta my finger tips.
Also, obligs:
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Give it time . . . The employment situation in the Northwest is significantly different than here in the midwest. And are people working in the Northwest working the same number of hours that they worked say 4 years ago? I’ve not seen any statistics on how UNDER employment affects the employment statistics. It isn’t likely to be full unemployment that we see overall, it is people who need 40+ hours of work STILL having to work 2 or 3 jobs to make a living, and because 20 hours of work in a $10/hr job without benefits is $200. While a 40 hours of work at $9/hr is $360 and usually a benefits package kicks in at around 37 hours/week.
I fully sympathise with the need for a living wage, I’m all for it!. But if you look at the PDF Red Robin’s staffing is already mostly part timers, to avoid benefits issues. Red Robin has said that they expect getting rid of the busboys will save the company $8 million dollars a year, which is 25% of their labor costs.(pg 27 - Labor costs).
No, I’m reasonably certain canning the Busboys, was a reaction to what they perceive as excessive labor costs extended out into the future. It is my belief that economic regulation that encourages part time employment over full time work is counter productive long term. And that is what this cycle of wage hikes, then reduced work, then new wage hikes does.
It falls within the tone and metre of this article in that the issue of retirement for the poor suffers from the same lack of following the after effects of regulation to it’s logical conclusion that the minimum wage argument does.
I would remind you that it doesn’t require a human to flip a burger, or in 5 years or so, even drive a truck. What are we going to do with these redundant people?
Well, he is! I like him in spite of his unfortunate political beliefs! He and I find political arguments fun.
Arm them.
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If one can only envision “people” as being “employees/consumers in the ‘free’ market” then the options become limited and grim indeed. Fortunately most of us here at liberal-leaning BoingBoing take a broader view of what constitutes a (human) person’s value; for us, the still troubling question of “what are we going to do with all these redundant workers?” offers much happier options – assuming conservatives with the narrower view aren’t in charge to “reluctantly” offer only the eliminationist and exploitative ones, of course.
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I mean, we’re not very smart here… being liberal and all. I hear that most liberals, except for @Glen_Barrington’s son in law, are not so smart. So what do we know?
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There are still some things a liberal like myself* is too dumb to grasp, like why so many of these conservative casual-dining tycoons don’t understand what a 10-K report or corporate PR department just-so stories are.
[* one who, due to odd circumstances, ended up as acting president of a small fast-casual local chain years ago]
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But you’re right there ready to make the assumption.
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8 million isn’t 25% of labor costs, it is just under 2%. Their labor costs were 403,517,000. The figures on 27 are percentages of restaurant costs. Their labor costs are declining relative to other costs, so carrying foreward any trend into the future wouldn’t suggest mass layoffs or part time work. The trend that does point that way is stock buybacks, 5 million purchased in 2014, 40 million in 2015, and 100 million authorized in 2016. But we don’t have to guess on hours or wages, the data is collected . I would recommend this table for statewide averages. https://www.bls.gov/sae/eetables/sae_annavg316.pdf Hours worked are up in Washington and stable in California and Oregon. Wages are slightly up in all 3. This table breaks it out by industry in case you are worried manufacturing isn’t representative of the issue. https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/tabled1.pdf Again those western states are looking pretty good, though over a shorter period. It isn’t like the coasts having a higher minimum wage than the Midwest and South is somehow a new phenomenon. I’ve been hearing the conservative canard that reducing wage and employee protections will bring growth for my entire life and for just as long the places that have embraced those policies have been consistent economic laggards.
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How dare you question the conclusions of this giant of the restaurant industry (or perhaps labour/staffing expert) with mere math based on facts from a corporate report? You’re responding to one of those super-smart conservatives. Next you’ll be telling him that “right to work” legislation actually limits workers’ options to negotiate in the labour market.
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Speak for yourself! I’m a not very smart evil collectivist 
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Sounds like an excellent idea to me.
See above.
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Ssshhhh Mr. Malthus doesn’t believe in birth control, apparently.
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So you are saying that, just like Papa John, a company is choosing to blame their terrible performance as a company (Red Robin has not met quarterly expectations in a while, last quarter alone their stock dropped 27% from their earnings announcement) on politics. I look forward to seeing how long the anti-liberal cheerleader support and free advertising from conservative media will last before there are executive shake-ups.
But clearly your fact-less opinion is the truth.
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Well, but that’s just BABY murder! We can’t have that. Better to put shock collars around the genitals of the poor in case they get aroused. /s
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