Juggling Dynamite

CBC health reporter Kelly Crowe looks at the science behind making the food that’s so bad for us taste so good.Here is a direct video link.

Fast food is harmful for our health and the environment. But often missed in the assessment is the staggering burden on our public health care systems–costs which are born by all taxpayers and users, even the ones who are careful about their health. Here is a direct video link.

As for all those jobs the fast food business creates, this is far below a B+ for the economy. According to a University of California Berkeley Labor Center and University of Illinois study out today, 52% of families of fast food workers receive assistance from a public program like Medicaid, food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families as compared to 25% of families in the workforce as a whole. The report estimated that based on 2007-2011 data, this public aid costs taxpayers about $7 billion each year. See: Half of fast food workers need public aid.

“A separate report out Tuesday slammed fast food giants for pushing their workers onto the public safety net. The National Employment Law Project said that the 10 largest fast food companies in the U.S. were responsible for more than half the total cost to taxpayers — about $3.8 billion a year alone. The report calls out McDonald’s, Yum! Brands, Subway, Burger King, Wendy’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Dairy Queen, Little Caesar’s, Sonic and Domino’s.

McDonald’s itself is responsible for $1.2 billion of that cost each year, NELP said.

“The leading companies in the industry earn billions in profits each year, award chief executives generous compensation packages, and regularly distribute substantial amounts of money in the form of dividends and share buybacks,” the report said. “At the same time…these highly profitable companies’ low-wage, no-benefits business model imposes on taxpayers.”

Particularly disturbing is that the CEO’s and executives of these global franchises are treated as business rock stars and brought in to counsel governments and business students all over the world on how to create such value.

So much for the healing power or deleveraging…

“Consumer credit, for instance, surged past the $3 trillion mark in the second quarter of 2013 and continues on an upward trajectory, according to the most recent numbers from the Federal Reserve.

At $3.04 trillion, the total is up 22 percent over the past three years. Student loans are up a whopping 61 percent.

Total household debt, according to the Fed’s flow of funds report, is at $13 trillion, nearly back to its pre-crisis level in 2007 and a shade below government debt of $15 trillion.” See: Private Debt: back with a vengeance.

But not to worry…the risk sellers are all assuring us that the willingness to take on financially suicidal debt levels is a positive “bullish” sign for the US consumer. All while the third bear market “whack” in 13 years to what meager savings what they have left is pending… Here is a direct video link.