Wendy’s ran into a wall of popular resistance with the mid-February release of its “earnings call” transcript for the fourth quarter of 2023. The transcript mentioned an intention to test “dynamic pricing” starting next year.

The knee-jerk panic reaction was understandable. Nobody looks forward to the prospect of sitting in a drive-thru line for 20 minutes before reaching the menu, only to learn that a Baconator combo is going for $50. Wendy’s quickly backed down on the plan and tried to explain that its focus is on “dynamic pricing” ideas other than mere “surge pricing” (i.e. higher prices at times of highest demand).

But “dynamic pricing,” including “surge pricing,” is a great idea — for Wendy’s, and for its customers.

Dynamic pricing goes in both directions, and it’s good all around. To see why, let’s look at that Baconator combo. I just priced one for pickup at my local Wendy’s: $12.29.

Now, suppose a nearby factory’s daytime shift is getting off work, or a local sporting event has just ended, and a bunch of hungry people are heading for Wendy’s. The drive-thru line extends  into the street. The workers are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. People are waiting ten minutes instead of two minutes for their food.

Of course, most of those customers are ordering via phone app these days. They know the cost before they even join that drive-thru line. And if the cost is $15.29 instead of $12.29, many of them will decide to eat at home. The people who are willing and able to pay the extra three bucks will get their food more quickly; those who can’t or won’t will eat elsewhere; and the staff will not be overworked and exhausted.

That’s “surge pricing.” But let’s look at the other side. Think of it as “slow business” pricing. There’s one person in the dining area and two cars in the drive-thru. The workers are standing around and one could safely be sent home. The basket of fries that just came out of the oil will end up in the trash if not sold ASAP.

The manager presses a button and everyone with the Wendy’s app gets a promo message — Baconator combo for $9.99 if you order in the next 30 minutes! People who happen to feel a little peckish get a deal. Food doesn’t go in the garbage. A worker keeps getting paid instead of going home. Instead of losing money during that hour due to wasted food and wasted time, Wendy’s makes money.

Everything else being equal, nobody wants to pay more for food than necessary. But everything else is never equal. For some people, saving time is worth a little extra money; for others, saving money is worth a little extra time. For businesses, keeping demand more steady is profitable.

“Dynamic pricing” — prices rising and falling — has always been the rule, not the exception. It’s just getting compressed into shorter time frames. That’s a feature, not a bug, and the sooner we see it at the drive-thru the better.

Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter: @thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.

PUBLICATION/CITATION HISTORY

On February 25, Aaron Bushnell live-streamed the following statement:

“I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. And I will no longer be complicit to genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers — it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”

Then, dressed in an Air Force uniform, he doused himself with a flammable liquid and set himself on fire, repeatedly screaming “Free Palestine!” as the flames consumed him. He died a short time later at a local hospital.

Now US Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) wants the US Department of Defense to explain “how this individual was allowed to serve on active duty” and whether he was “ever identified as exhibiting extremist leanings.” In his letter, Cotton probably libels Bushnell, claiming that his suicidal act was “in support of a terrorist group.”

To Cotton’s mind, the Israeli regime’s murders of civilians in Gaza — the current toll stands at 30,000 or more —  are morally justifiable and worthy of his support, while killing one’s self in protest against genocide is “extremist” and supportive of “terrorism.”

Color me unsurprised. Cotton’s incapable of opening his mouth without revealing the sewer of narcissism and sociopathy that passes for his mind.

This is the guy who believes America has an “under-incarceration” problem, who advocated sending in federal troops to suppress American protests against murders committed by police officers, and who’s never met a war he didn’t like.

Oddly, the answer to Cotton’s first question is yes: Aaron Bushnell grew up in an “extremist” religious organization,  the Community of Jesus. If its timeline on X is any indication, the Community of Jesus is strongly “pro-Israel,” including support for the Gaza holocaust. Bushnell even went on a church-sponsored trip to Israel as a teenager.

As an adult, he left the group and joined another “extremist” organization, the US Air Force … after which he apparently became a “left-anarchist,” arguably a less “extreme” affiliation than either of the others.

Bushnell spent most of his life as a Tom Cotton type extremist (which explains why he was “allowed to serve on active duty”), before somehow acquiring the kind of moral compass Cotton either never possessed or discarded long ago.

America would have been better off losing Tom Cotton than Aaron Bushnell.

Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter: @thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.

PUBLICATION/CITATION HISTORY

On February 19, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu bragged that “I am the one who for decades blocked the establishment of a Palestinian state.” On February 21, the Knesset approved a resolution joining Netanyahu with, in his words,  “an overwhelming majority against the attempt to impose on us the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

Apparently someone forgot to inform Netanyahu, and the Knesset, of several inconvenient facts, foremost among them that the state of Palestine was established in 1988,  eight years before his first term as prime minister.

The state of Palestine is recognized by 139 of the 193 United Nations member states (Israel is recognized by 165). It’s recognized as an observer state by the UN itself. It’s a member state of UNESCO, Interpol, and the International Criminal Court.

The state of Palestine generously claims less land than it’s entitled to under United Nations Resolution 181 (it’s willing to settle for a return to pre-1967 truce lines), while Israel occupies quite a bit more than it’s entitled to under that resolution.

UNR 181, by the way, is the international legal instrument which authorized the creation of Israel, which set its only internationally recognized borders, and which Israel agreed to as a condition of UN membership. To the extent that Israel violates UNR 181, Israel abdicates its status as a “legitimate” state.

To be fair, the state of Palestine also defies UNR 181, demanding part of Jerusalem for its capital … as does Israel. Per UNR 181, Jerusalem is supposed to be an “international city,” belonging to neither state and governed under UN auspices.

Whenever there’s talk of a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Arab conflict in Palestine, Israel and its backers — especially the US — pretend that any “second state” is a proposal for the future, a proposal that can be rejected, temporarily or permanently.

That little bit of propagandizing becomes less and less useful as time goes on. The state of Palestine is not a proposal, it’s a fact. Yes, much of the state of Palestine remains under foreign occupation, but few asserted that Poland and France ceased to exist while under German occupation during World War 2, or that Japan and Germany ceased to exist while under Allied occupation after that war.

I’m skeptical that two states really promise any “solution” to the conflict (I prefer a “no-state solution”), but the opening move toward ANY solution is recognizing reality. Trying to fantasize away the state of Palestine’s existence isn’t going to work.

Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter: @thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.

PUBLICATION/CITATION HISTORY