Unfortunately the system we have is a little corrupt. I don’t think McDonalds and Wendy’s have meetings — no, no, that would be illegal — but they do keep an eye on each other’s prices. If a Big Mac goes up 50 cents the Wendy’s equivalent will go up by the same amount. They all charge exactly the same prices and pay exactly the same wages. Productivity has increased exponentially over the lasts couple of decades and profits have also increased. But wages, not so much. If the minimum wage was $15, it would be true of all burger places. The burger would go up in price, but the employees wouldn’t be paying for part of their customer’s food.

Gas stations already offer microwavable burgers and only the desperate buy them.