So There's No Wealth Gap?

Is there a wealth gap or not?

Call it what you will, there's a growing gap between what the top earners make, and what the "working man" makes, most radically demonstrated at companies like MacDonald's, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Burger King - in other words, the fast food industry:

The pay gap separating fast-food workers from their chief executive officers is growing at each of those companies. The disparity has doubled at McDonald’s Corp. in the last 10 years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

At MacDonald's, the average worker makes $8.25/hr. The CEO makes $8.75 million. I'd say that's a gap. In the 1950s, the top guy might make about 47 times what the average worker made. If that ratio was in effect today, the CEO at MacDonald's would make $806,520 - over ten times less than what he actually makes.

Then there's the fact that more and more people who might have retired in the past, and can't afford to now, are taking jobs at these places:

Older workers...are staffing fast-food grills and fryers more often, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. In 2010, 16- to 19-year-olds made up 17 percent of food preparation and serving workers, down from almost a quarter in 2000, as older, underemployed Americans took those jobs. 

“The sheer number of adults in the industry has just exploded”... 

Remember that if older workers take these jobs, that leaves fewer openings for younger, especially first-time, workers.

So the economy's looking better?

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