On most occassions I agree with Doug. But now I am confused. Within the last couple of weeks two empty blocks at the end of my block have been cleared and new construction begun. One, is to construct a new McDonalds outlet -- the other to construct a new Wendy's" outlet. Now I shouldn't let personal preferences dictate but I have never ever liked any McDonalds product. (When I visit my grandchildren I always give them the option, any restaurant except McDonalds) But I realize as an economist that they are the market leader. (God knows why). Now Doug is arguing that they are competitive? I find this quite ludicrous. There is oligopistic competition ( go read Galbraith) but it should probably be better described as rivalry rather than competition which,for better or worse, has become typified in neoclassical economics. Once one accepts a non-comptetive product model (and labour model), the whole edifice of neoclassical minimum wage analysis becomes a crock of ... Why are we even bothering?
