Maggie's Farm

Of course, there is a shortage of skilled workers, worldwide. The practice is to go to college to get 'educate' for a life of the mind, not build some wicked skills so you can be exploited in exchange for money. In the past, this wasn't so terrible because those who went to college had actually done a days work in their life before hitting the keggers. Now, they're 25 with a master's degree and show up to announce they are high maintenance or are confused about that showing up everyday, day in and day out, on time to do something they don't particularly enjoy and find menial.

Meanwhile, the old guy shows up early, do crappy jobs that need to be done and don't worry about how cool their job is because they were taught to work hard or they'll freeze in the dark.

But also, we must look at the compensation. A worker only sees about 1/3 of his cost to the company. One third goes to the government in the form of taxes, insurance premiums, etc. One third is benefits: health insurance, retirement, etc. Increasing hours worked as opposed to hiring more workers only significantly increases the employees third of the triangle with the others mostly not driven by extra hours worked.

Add on, that companies, in America at least, got used to having a ready pool of skilled workers to select from in the early boomers who were laid off from factories in the 1980s. Those guys are retiring out but for near 30 years, skilled trades weren't the best career for younger workers due to the skilled competition. Along with 'education' prejudice, this also led to steering kids away from trades.

This is Bloomberg's jobs program. Smaller cups, more garbage, more work for the, ahem, gentlemen who control that industry in NYC. More business for the pulp and paper industry, cup makers, plastic lid and straw makers. Plus, more tax dollars as you'll be paying 2 x $1.60 = $3.20 plus tax for two 16 oz drinks as opposed to $1.90 plus tax for on 32 oz drink. And let's not forget that two 16 oz cups takes up more room than one 32 or 42 oz cup when shipped.

Why the man has solved the economic crisis.

But be warned, if your cup is now empty and a guy on the street offers to refill it for a small fee, that may not be Mountain Dew he puts in your cup.

Drunk smart girls