The Big Mac index is indeed a thing, which is surprisingly helpful.
this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024
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This gives a whole, sad new meaning to "i can haz cheezburger"
A big Mac wasn't .50 in 1980. I remember it being at least $1. The earliest I can find sources for say $1.6 in 1986.
The New York Times previously reported that a Big Mac in New York cost 85 cents back in 1974.
a simple Big Mac cost just $1.60 in 1986, according to The Economist, which introduced its Big Mac Index that same year.
From this article.
a big mac right now in my expensive west coast city is only $6, must have been hawaii to get to $8 justa couple years ago!
Honest question, why is this not how inflation is measured?
I feel like the basket of goods chosen in Australia is nonsense, considering rent went up by like 50% in two years, and prices in the supermarket have been insane, somehow inflation numbers only ever cracked the high single digits per year.
I haven't looked into it deeper, yet, but seems fishy, and cherry-picked.
I think one reason is it's the other way around, the cart is leading the horse. One problem with using a basket of goods to measure inflation is that it cannot keep pace with the substitutions consumers make. Consumer choices can switch really quickly but the basket of goods used to measure that needs to be workshoped before it can be used. It's in part, because it's impossible to have a perfect snapshot of a market.
Could we not at least make various unchanging standards?
Like, housing & food inflation index?
Is that not vague and unchanging enough?
I know sourcing the data isn't a walk in the park, but I know for a fact Victoria collects information on the first one pretty accurately.
I think we should have a "base needs" basket, because that's never going to change. People need to eat, people need to sleep.
Thanks for indulging me in my vague, unlearned on the topic, questioning!
We should compare the rate of inflation, joblessness, etc, against the state of the world just before the pandemic
We need more comparisons using this "BM per hour" unit.
US Median Annual Household Income
1980: $21,020 or 4.8 BM/hr
2022: $74,580 or 1.1 BM/hr
US GDP
1980: $2,857B or 650M BM/hr
2022: $25,440B or 363M BM/hr
US Defense Budget
1980: $144B or 33M BM/hr
2022: $877B or 13M BM/hr
Hate this sort of garbage. Exaggerating or lying to boost an already solid point ruins it as most won't see past the lie. They see the bullshit, turn away, call it all bullshit. Now you've lost my trust and I'm not listening to a damned thing you say.
Big Macs weren't $.50 in 1980, I was there. If they were that cheap, they wouldn't have been able to pry us stoned teenagers out of there.
Big Macs aren't $8 now. I think the whole meal is that much, maybe closer to $9.
Yes, the minimum wage is abysmal, but they're not paying that. Walmart pay $15 to start in this little hick town. McDonald's is probably $13 or so.
A BigMac meal is $12 where I'm at...
$9.69 for the medium, $10.69 for the large. Still too goddamn much. And the minimum wage is going up de facto because people can't afford to live. That's not a reason not to enshrine it.
Oh wow 13 whole dollars that makes it all okay then I guess.
(Also live in hick town, McDs starts at 9.50/hr)
That's cool, someone should make that chart hut with food.
I'm pretty sure my car gets more miles per gallon than that.
