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Maybe instead of doubling the price, McDonald's could cut their profits? I'm sure the shareholders would still do just fine with $3.75 billions per year instead of $7.5.

But the poor shareholders would be very sad with that, they don't deserve such a misfortune. It's better and easier to just underpay their employees, they don't need to make a living anyway.

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I don't know what cartoonish depiction of shareholders you are alleging here but they probably wouldn't be very happy to have a sudden 50% drop in profits without any prior planning or intimation.

Yeah, I get it. The employees should be living paycheck to paycheck on the verge of poverty so the shareholders can rake in that extra 3.5bi. These employees are such crybabies, they just need to budget better.

Who do you think the shareholders are? One unified group of cartoonishly evil mustache-twirling villains?

I'd be very pissed off if dividends or bond yields from across the industry dropped 50% overnight.

Of the largest shareholders of major corporations are mutual funds, pension funds and such that fund people who are completely dependent on investment income to live. A policy that causes a 50% change in profits would be a massive shock to those people.

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