Spyke

The Big Mac index is indeed a thing, which is surprisingly helpful.

62
lemmy.world

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.

29

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!

11
lemmy.world

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.

9
InputZeroreply
lemmy.ml

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.

5

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!

3

We should compare the rate of inflation, joblessness, etc, against the state of the world just before the pandemic

8

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

6
lemmy.world

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.

4

$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.

2

Oh wow 13 whole dollars that makes it all okay then I guess.

(Also live in hick town, McDs starts at 9.50/hr)

1
sh.itjust.works

I don't go to McDonald's, but this looks like cherry-picking data to force a narrative to me. Are Big Macs really $8 for just the sandwich these days?

-9

I don't either (can't actually eat there anyway due to allergies).

Anyway, its $8.69 by me, so yes.

32
Ventreply

Did a little research and found a Big Mac costs around $4.49, or $7.49 for a meal. Really hard to check prices without downloading their app, btw. Though, I've heard that McDonnalds is a lot like Subway, in that anyone not using the app and coupon codes for every order is getting ripped off big time.

20
lemmy.world

Yeah totally. I went to one just outside of Chicago about a month ago for my nieces birthday and the Big Mac there was over $8. A damn happy meal was $14!

5
DynoNoobreply
lemmy.world

$5.29 near me. And you can get 25% off if you use the app.

3
No_Eponymreply
lemmy.ca

25% off and all I need to do is give up access to my phone and all the info it gathers on me to be monetized and used to manipulate me into spending more?!

11

Forces always-on location

Keeps accessing location indefinitely* if app isn’t forced closed

Great deal

*certainly for hours

4

Looks like that's what a double cheeseburger would cost me here, and a single cheeseburger is $4.39 lol

And a happy meal is $10, ridiculous

6

Yeah every now and then (like once a year) I’ll get a weird craving. Last time I went in there, shit was crazy expensive. That was like two years ago. I haven’t gone back since because of the price.

2
Telodzrumreply
lemmy.world

No they are not and the median wage is up almost $16 over that same period. This image is a lesson in why you don’t lie or make a point that is already sound — it kneecaps your entire argument.

-7
gruereply
lemmy.world

This isn't about median wage; this is about minimum wage.

13

Using the median wage to prove life is good is like using the median temperature of mass in the solar system to to prove its hot.

Spoiler: it's fucking not.

7

You reached the end

Whatever gets us to class consciousness | Spyke