Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“I have been obsessing on fast food since the days when the pundits told us to ignore the data showing rising real wages, people can’t make ends meet. The reason for focusing on fast food is that eating out is pretty much the ultimate discretionary spending item. If people are feeling stretched financially, reducing the number of times they eat out is about the simplest possible way to save money. … things seemed to look pretty good for the first three years of the Biden administration. Spending on fast-food restaurants grew rapidly in 2021 and through 2022 and most of 2023. … While people might have been telling pollsters they couldn’t make ends meet, and news reporters kept highlighting tales of economic hardship, they were spending as though things were pretty good. That is no longer the case. Spending in fast-food restaurants pretty much stagnated in 2024 and has trended downward this year.” (09/02/25)