Smokin'

A simple message to the silly socialists. You’re upset by businesses telling you that they will fail with the minimum wage increase. You’re telling business owners silly things like if you can’t pay the minimum wage then you don’t have a viable business. I want to make this easier to understand, because if you mean what you say, you want people to have jobs and earn a liveable wage. So listen, businesses fail for all kinds of reasons, mainly because they are unprofitable. We are seeing a wave of business closures at the moment because of the compounding costs from the state against a cost of living crisis. To make a cup of coffee profitable it has to eat a lot costs: - 20% VAT (the inputs can’t be claimed back) - Business rates (a tax before you earn) - Rising NI costs - Employment rights load - Rising energy costs - Inflation All these are imposed by the state. There is also a time tax with all the accounting, HR and regularity requirements which impose cost of consultants and time costs to ensure compliance, distracting owners from operating their businesses. Then there are the other normal costs. A business owner needs to make a profit else the business fails. If the business fails there are less jobs and lower tax receipts. If there are less jobs then public services crumble and welfare requirements increase. This is a compounding problem and what leads to the downward spiral of a country. So… where does the money come from if there are less jobs. The government borrows it, that increase in the money supply drives more inflation, making life more expensive for the people you want to help. Some who now don’t have the job they once had. So what now? What is your plan? I get it, you don’t really have one, this is what has happened to every socialist state, this is how a country goes from rich to poor. We have no divine right to be a wealthy nation and can certainly lose that status. So this is your challenge, can you accept society has a distribution of wealth which means there are rich and poor or would you rather everyone was poorer as long as there are no rich. That’s what socialists tend to want, though I have a secret for you, you can’t get rid of people being rich. I know you think profit is ugly, but the profit motive is what creates business and jobs. So anyway. I’m going to keep promoting proper economics because that’s how a nation becomes prosperous and prosperity leads to a net better outcome for all. This does mean I am going to have to make fun of your stupid socialist ideas. Good luck, read a book and stop being a dumb dumb.

A minimum wage of £15 would end my coffee shop, it would have to close, as would many other businesses. I’ll explain for the economically illiterate. Staff costs are currently half our costs, a £15 minimum wage is actually more than £15 an hour for the company, because you have to add: - 12.07% holiday - Sick pay - Maternity pay if and when required - National insurance - Pension contributions These costs would mean the shop loses money because remember, energy costs are up, rates are up, regulations are up. Now you can pass these costs onto the consumer - that would mean charging a lot more for coffee, people won’t pay it. The likes of Starbucks and Costa can, because they have economies of scale. The independent doesn’t. Now the little socialist will say well this is your fault, if you can’t run a business that can afford to pay its staff properly, but the little socialist has never run a business and does not understand the dynamics. Now I could pay some staff off and fill those hours myself or reduce us to one staff member during certain periods - but this proves the point that a minimum wage costs jobs. There was a time when these jobs were done by kids, perhaps on the weekend, paid a lower wage, no holiday and no silly employment rights. Perhaps they were even paid cash. The dynamic worked and small businesses like this could operate. It was also a great first job. Sadly now it isn’t worth employing entitlement youngsters at this level of pay. So alas, I don’t need the stress, the business would close, a number of jobs would be lost. Economics is about understanding these dynamics, no vibes. The cost of living is not solved through passing on inflation to the business, it is solved by ending high inflation and creating prosperity. This is what socialists don’t understand, they can’t create prosperity, they can only destroy it.

“Maybe I was drunk. Maybe I was high” Well, either of those two reasons would explain why Hogan thought winning the WWE Title off Yokozuna at the end of WrestleMania IX was a good idea

A minimum wage of £15 would end my coffee shop, it would have to close, as would many other businesses. I’ll explain for the economically illiterate. Staff costs are currently half our costs, a £15 minimum wage is actually more than £15 an hour for the company, because you have to add: - 12.07% holiday - Sick pay - Maternity pay if and when required - National insurance - Pension contributions These costs would mean the shop loses money because remember, energy costs are up, rates are up, regulations are up. Now you can pass these costs onto the consumer - that would mean charging a lot more for coffee, people won’t pay it. The likes of Starbucks and Costa can, because they have economies of scale. The independent doesn’t. Now the little socialist will say well this is your fault, if you can’t run a business that can afford to pay its staff properly, but the little socialist has never run a business and does not understand the dynamics. Now I could pay some staff off and fill those hours myself or reduce us to one staff member during certain periods - but this proves the point that a minimum wage costs jobs. There was a time when these jobs were done by kids, perhaps on the weekend, paid a lower wage, no holiday and no silly employment rights. Perhaps they were even paid cash. The dynamic worked and small businesses like this could operate. It was also a great first job. Sadly now it isn’t worth employing entitlement youngsters at this level of pay. So alas, I don’t need the stress, the business would close, a number of jobs would be lost. Economics is about understanding these dynamics, no vibes. The cost of living is not solved through passing on inflation to the business, it is solved by ending high inflation and creating prosperity. This is what socialists don’t understand, they can’t create prosperity, they can only destroy it.

Arne Slot retains the backing of Fenway Sports Group. The belief is that this campaign has thrown up a series of unforeseen challenges and that the Dutchman deserves the opportunity of a third season in charge. FSG feels that the coach who won the Premier League title in his first term in charge has not disappeared, but Slot must prove that faith is not misplaced. (The Times)

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