Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Apparently, unfettered capitalism has its limitations.


Via Atrios, we learn that some businesspeople just haven't quite got the hang of that freewheeling, supply-and-demand, free market system:

Record low unemployment across parts of the West has created tough working conditions for business owners, who in places are being forced to boost wages or be creative to fill their jobs.

John Francis, who owns the McDonald's in Sidney, Mont., said he tried advertising in the local newspaper and even offered up to $10 an hour to compete with higher-paying oil field jobs. Yet the only calls were from other business owners upset they would have to raise wages, too. Of course, Francis' current employees also wanted a pay hike.

"I don't know what the answer is," Francis said. "There's just nobody around that wants to work."

One can certainly sympathize with Francis. After all, once you offer $10 an hour, and you still can't get any takers, why, it's just a mystery what you can possibly try after that. Yup, it's a real stumper.

In totally unrelated news, Robert Nardelli gets $210 million for doing a singularly unimpressive job as Home Depot's CEO. I guess capitalism has its advantages after all.

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