Notwithstanding efforts by “zealous advocates for social change” and others around the country, we’re encouraged now and then to see public officials advocating a return to a freer economic market that can produce real economic benefits. In that vein, so-called Right to Work legislation appears to be gaining ground in a couple of different states. …
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Assembly bill #2354 has been pending in the New Jersey Assembly since it was first introduced back in February of this year. Early this week, the Assembly Budget Committee chose to advance the bill on a 6-4 vote with one member not voting and another abstaining. If passed as currently drafted, A2354 would mandate that workers…
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Last month, market research firm Mintel International released its estimates on the growth of the gluten-free market and projected gluten-free sales will top $8.8 billion in 2014, an increase of 63% over the total from two years ago. Further, they reported that each of the gluten-free segments experienced significant growth over the two-year period with…
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With their merger receiving all the requisite approvals, BK Worldwide and Tim Horton’s took the final step in becoming one last week when their respective common stocks ceased trading on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. Shares of the newly merged company, Restaurant Brands International, now the third largest QSR company in the world,…
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Last week, we mentioned the old adage that the “wheels of government turn slowly”, but this week, we can see how quickly they can turn in lame duck sessions. To set the context, remember that the new Senate to be seated in January will be controlled by the GOP; remember also that appointments to many…
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In what surprised many observers, a bipartisan compromise bill to re-authorize a number of business-friendly tax credits that had been allowed to expire last year, was likely killed by the White House when the President threatened to veto the compromise legislation. Most important to many in the QSR industry, the “Tax Increase Prevention Act of…
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A special enrollment period offered by the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) as an inducement for small businesses to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace will end on Monday, December 15. The special enrollment period allows small businesses in many states the opportunity to avoid the so-called “minimum participation rate“, which in most states…
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With a transparency that would make Obama Care architect and MIT health care economist Jonathan Gruber cringe, protesters who were supposed to be striking fast food workers upset about the inadequacy of their minimum wage, a number of the protesters honestly explained that they were not workers as advertised but rather pawns of SEIU’s national…
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In a case of stating the obvious, a newly published paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research confirms the long-held belief that increases in the minimum wage for American workers hurts their earnings potential as well as the job mobility for low-skill workers. Two University of California at San Diego economists, Michael Wither and…
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We noted a couple of interesting stories on Starbucks over the past few weeks that you might be interested in. First, we noted that they launched a huge roastery and “coffee bar” on Capital Hill in Seattle last week. The 15,000 square foot roastery will be used solely for roasting, tasting and education their customers…
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