God this makes me so want to eat the rich!
If anything this tells me that that inflation number is bullshit.
What’s bullshit are the cherry-picked numbers on the chart and the jumpy x-axis.
Edit: Article here quotes McDonalds as stating the Big Mac is up 21% since 2019. Sources elsewhere say the sandwich price is actually down since both 2014 and 2019, so who knows. If anything, I would expect Subway to have a higher point on the graph than it does.
Now do since 2014 like the chart
Yes, this.
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That chart is evil. First two ticks represent 5 years. Ticks 2-3 represent 2 years. The last two ticks represent 2 1/2-3 years!
Also, what’s so magical about 2014 that it deserves to be the baseline? I’d love to see this extended back to, oh, 2006 or so. Sometime before the Great Recession.
Finally, what about shrinkflation? I used to order from Panera on a regular basis, but during the pandemic, it seemed like their sandwiches shrank a little bit more between every order. At this point, I don’t think it’s even worth ordering from them.
And who is what at that mid-level grouping on the left vertical? I could guess at the colors, but I’ve come up with 9 different possibilities. It’d be nice to be able to tell which is leveling off and which is accelerating.
The time line doesn’t matter since it is only comparing different brands to inflation, not against time. You could stretch the graph but the comparison will stay the same.
2014 is just chosen as a starting point. Most probably because the info was readily available. You can make the same graph starting from any point in time and the conclusion of the graph wouldn’t change.
Hard disagree on both points. If the time line doesn’t matter, why include it? It would be simpler to just plot the endpoints.
As for the conclusion, what if McDonalds kept prices the same from 2004-2014, but Popeyes doubled prices over the same time period? The final plots for 2024 would be in a different order. It would be a different conclusion. Unless nobody changed prices at all before 2014, you’ll have a different final result.
The timeline gives a general reference point. You’re right they could mostly just include 2014 and the final year as well. No big deal in my opinion since they don’t try to emphasize the price points at each year (as only a vague idea is given based on the line).
In terms of your second point, what if from '99 to 2003, Mcdonald’s had doubled their prices? the graph would be the same? We can keep going back until each business’s complete history, but I feel this graph tells enough of a story: Both brands increased their product costs a certain amount from the dates indicated.
Not to mention that a huge number of these businesses are locally owned franchises, where the parent corporation has less control over menu prices.
Many franchises are bound by a specific cost structure and predefined distribution.
And most franchises are required to purchase their raw ingredients from the parent corporation, which means that even if they choose to be flexible on their prices their baseline costs are still set by a global conglomerate.
JFC I didn’t even notice the x axis at first glance.
I guess just because it’s 10 years difference?
There is no excuse for this kind of ungodly travesty of a lie made with data.
They are awarded no points and may God have mercy on their soul.
I’m pretty sure the McDonald’s one is false, which makes me think all of the others are too. This is a bad faith argument. I’m assuming this is going around TikTok and that’s why so many braindead people keep repeating it
I have found the article here: https://financebuzz.com/fast-food-prices-vs-inflation
At work so I can’t read it atm, but I’m interested to hear your conclusion later
I found this article yesterday, from none other than Fox (who I would think would lean into this narrative): https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/mcdonalds-pushes-back-hefty-price-hikes-including-18-big-mac-meal
According to the McDonald’s CEO, the $18 Big Mac (which is where this number comes from) was 1 location, and the average price of a Big Mac is up 21% since 2019 (less than inflation). So I think all of these numbers in your article are cherry picked or just made up
False as in too low? In 2014 both the mcdouble and mcchicken were $1 each. I ate way too many, but I could get 2 sandwiches and a large drink for $3 plus tax. Today the mcdouble is $2.79, the mcchicken is $2.49, and a large drink is $1.69.
Yeah, look at the x axis labels. 5 years, 2 years, and 3 years. WTF?
Not saying it’s right, but the spacing makes the drastic changes in 19-21 less obvious by spreading them across a wider area. Same with 21-24, just less so.
A consistently spaced graph would probably be more drastic looking.
Regardless of intent/effect, it’s sloppy and does not instill confidence in the data…
Ha, I came here to say that, too.
I’m definitely weary of posts like this with no data backup. Also what is “actual inflation”? Wouldn’t that be like average inflation across all goods? Doesn’t inflation affect certain markets differently?
I’m also tired of posts like this.
10 years, double the prices? ain’t that far off.
at our mcd, at least that much for many, if not most, things on their menu. everything i (used to) buy there, anyway. and way more than that for the former ‘dollar menu’ items. beverages the least affected, although it’s now probably double, too (the large cup shrunk on top of the ~ 90% increase since then).
Shrinking cups is actually a good thing. Nobody needs that much sugar, and the cost of the syrup is pennies compared to the cost of the cup itself. They are also mostly plastic now. Normalizing smaller beverages is good for humans.
Used to be a 20$ bill could get you all you need at t bell.
We used to feed a family of 4 for $20 at Taco Bell
Yikes. I couldn’t imagine feeling alright with feeding a family Taco Bell.
2 AM drunk and “i just dont give a shit anymore” is where Taco Bell food resides.
Believe it or not, some people make less money than others.
If you were in a position with only 20 dollars in your pocket and had to feed a family of 4 you would be eternally grateful for cheap food. Consider yourself lucky that you have never faced hardship like that in your life.
I think your comment is pretty ignorant and/or disrespectful.
I think your comment is pretty ignorant and/or disrespectful.
I think your is. You made a lot of assumptions in this comment.
I will not back down from this. I have done better with less money; Taco Bell is not a great option. The person commenting didn’t say they were in a food desert, or their only option. If I absolutely had to, I would, but I could not feel good about it.
It’s the hidden cost of being poor. If time is an asset, the working poor don’t have that either. Even outside of a food desert. It requires that much more planning/mental energy to think about meal planning when both parents are working and the rest of life is happening.
Your communication on this issue comes off as a form of victim blaming.
I will admit that assuming you have never faced hardship like that is not fair. Maybe you have, and maybe you handled it differently.
Still, its disrespectful to make someone feel bad for feeding their family Taco Bell. Maybe they didn’t have time or the knowledge to cook food for that cheap.
Taco Bell is as good an option as any other cheap fast food place. None of them are healthy or anything, and that’s not the point. The point is that they are cheap and quick, and sometimes that’s what people need. Nobody should feel bad about it, including yourself.
Lets face the reality: Most people just don’t care. They are not going to feel bad or good, they just know that they did something they consider fast and cheap. Very few people are going to feel bad.
I would, mostly because I have an idea what goes into their food, and I know you are getting what you pay for: there are better options.
But I also have an idea of what the effect of a global race to the bottom from a company like Yum! Brands results in. They own 58,000 restaurants, a training company, a marketing insights company, and a delivery company. Supporting a global conglomerate to supply “cheap” non healthy addictive food should make anyone take pause. They also drive out other options, and feed into the system where we do not have time or energy to make our own food. Fast food at this scale is a pretty nasty with consequences beyond the price at the till.
Get off your high horse bud.
Fun fact! This chart is just strait up wrong. McDonalds prices are up around 20% compared to wages that are up 28%.
Probably because all food prices has outpaced inflation. If you’ve done any grocery shopping in the past two years between shrinkflation and price increases many food items have doubled in price.
The right wing always assumes everything is a government conspiracy and the left wing assumes everything is a corporate conspiracy and neither group bothers to think about any other reason for things like this.
But before blaming the government for “printing money” (when the central banks have done the opposite by raising interest rates) or assuming every grocery store in the world got together to raise prices all at once, maybe we should consider other factors.
There could be food supply issues. Given this is a global phenomena, we should consider global food supply problems.
One thing that could cause global food supply is if there was a war in a part of the war that normally exports a large percentage of a staple food to the rest of the world. Where is wheat and grain normally produced? Is there a war happening there?
The fun thing about economics is the idea of substitutes. Bread is more expensive now? Just have more rice. Grain is too expensive for cattle feed? Mix in some more corn. If you’re the only one doing these tricks to reduce your food costs, it works really well. But unfortunately everyone is substituting which results on food prices across the board going up.
Also Climate Change does have an effect on agriculture. Droughts and floods mean less food is produced. So places which were reliable fields for farming aren’t so reliable anymore. So while the war in Ukraine will eventually be resolved which will put some downward pressure on food prices, climate change will continuously be putting an upward pressure on the price of food.
When I was in college, I could fill up on three bean burritos at Taco Bell for $1.81 out the door. Del Taco was cheaper at $1.50.
That was thirty years ago, but still. I don’t know how to explain it, but it felt a whole lot easier to dig up that kind of pocket change back then than it does to dig up whatever it costs today.
Now it’s 3-4 bucks per burrito here. And it’s still garbage food.
It’s been maddening to watch people call price-gouging “inflation”, honestly.
That’s not fucking inflation when someone in the supply chain made things more expensive and pocketed the difference as a wider profit margin; it’s the symptom of non-enforcement of antitrust laws.
I mean, most foodstuffs markets (in the supply chain between farm and grocer or farm -> restaurant) are controlled by very few people or corporations; when the farmers get less for their products but the grocer must pay more for them, that’s not inflation. It’s price-gouging, the symptom of the kinds of market failures that follow regulatory failures to prevent corporate mergers that would reduce competition in those markets.
When you look at food, fuel, housing, the enshittification of basically everything, the acquisition of yesterday’s hot-fresh-streaming services and re-packaging them to be just as predatory as the cable was when you cut the cord and went to streaming- it’s all what we get when private equity owns a piece of everything and they’re running it all to squeeze more out of everyone they can, and they also ensure regulators don’t do a damned thing about it.
There was once a time when regulators had the will to block corporate mergers, and they had the will to tax windfall profits at 100%.
If inflation isn’t based on most prices increasing… What is it based on?
If inflation isn’t based on most prices increasing… What is it based on?
It’s the devaluation of currency that happens when too much of it chases too few goods in the marketplace. It’s purely a monetary thing, you get that when the supply of money grows more quickly than the value of real goods in the economy does.
Ideally, we print money (and take it out of circulation) at a pace that keeps the money supply more or less balanced to the value of available goods and services in the economy. If we were to print too much money, or not take enough out of circulation (note: paying taxes does this; when you pay taxes the money doesn’t go into some account somewhere, it’s used to zero out the bonds issued to create it), the amount of money in circulation would become greater than the amount of real valuable goods in the economy. When that happens, the resulting bidding contest to secure those goods (after all, money doesn’t have intrinsic value, it’s only good for buying things that do) drives up the price of those goods in monetary terms.
Geez what happened in 2020 … Oh right.
Taxes on the wealthy went down with Trump in charge.
Taco Bell is fucking ridiculous now. A single grilled cheese burrito on its own is over $10. The other burritos are 3 to 4 bucks as well. The entire point of Taco Bell is that it’s supposed to be cheap garbage food you order at 1AM on a weekend after smoking a bowl, and that’s no longer feasible. Now it’s expensive garbage food. Nevermind that they also got rid of half the menu.
I just get the build your own meal for like $5 and get a crunch wrap supreme 4 layer burrito or whatever and nachos and a drink. Idk why someone would bother paying that much for fast food
$10? Where? They’re $4.79 here by me in Chicago.
Southern Ontario. It’s in CAD.
The only thing worth getting is the $6 cravings box that is only available through the app.
It’s $8 where I’m at now. They do have a special taco Tuesday box for 5-6 now though.
I’m lucky that I live in a town with about 2 billion taco trucks that are all insanely better and cheaper than Taco Bell. Plus, Taco Bell tastes like a Midwestern white lady’s version of Mexican food, which made it easy to avoid even when it wasn’t so expensive.
I can’t imagine living in a town without real Mexican food. We have taco trucks and authentic fast food style Mexican spots where I’m at too.
Nothing that Taco Bell has ever made comes close to the quality of a random shady looking taco truck.
Taco Bell <<<<< Taco truck with zero Google reviews
We have a fantastic one nearby in a rundown parking lot that makes their own “crunch wrap supreme” with your choice of meat for $10. These things are probably 5x the volume and density of the Taco Bell version and you don’t have to get Taco Bells shitty Ortega taco seasoned ground beef.
Went there recently, plain bean burrito used to cost me 1.29…now it’s 2.85 AND they now charge extra .20 if you want extra onions.
Crazy prices now.
I miss Taco Viva
The only good deal for Taco Bell is taco Tuesday deal. 5 dollars for 3 tacos and a drink. They got a build your own box that’s a good deal too, but everything else is so expensive.
Shit Wendy’s used to have good mobile deals and now they are mostly trash. That new CEO that wanted surge pricing on burgers is fucking up everything with Wendy’s for me.
I’m at a place where the local Mexican restaurant has better dinner deals Mon-Thurs than any fast food around me. Depending on the day it’s like $7-$10. I just gotta watch my drinking there.
Oh wow, it’s almost as if allowing the 0.001 to try and accumulate infinite wealth is a bad idea. Who could’ve guessed?
I mean, I could name a few people… Bernie Sanders, AOC, Robert Reich, the list goes on:-).
Robert Reich is the man! He is the most underrated political activist imho.
He is and he isn’t. I’m really turned off by his blind Biden support. I like him, I believe in most of what he says, I’m firmly on the left, but when he does this blind cheerleading and using examples of what Biden did that aren’t even bidens doing it sucks to see…
Bernie is amazing though, I “knew” him before I even knew him in that any documentary I’d watch where there was some footage of Congress debating on the context of what the documentary was, he was always on the right side of the argument. He speaks truth to power and doesn’t seem to be a blind cheerleader.
Thanks for sharing that, im glad to see he’s not completely defending them at all costs no matter what the topic is.
Could under reporting of real inflation that consumers feel be a factor here?
I’m sure these companies are exploiting consumers, but I’ve also been suspicious of the reported inflation numbers. It feels a lot higher than that and actually it could be more in line with the companies in the graph.
Maybe it’s not the fast food prices that are high but the inflation number that is too low.
MIT used to have the Billion Prices Project which tried to determine inflation numbers independently of the government, but it no longer exists. My recollection is that it was generally close to the official numbers.
If you think the reported numbers are wrong, you have to give a reason why, backed with evidence. As much as it sucks when rent and food, etc. are more expensive, but those are only part of the number. Inflation encompasses everything and some goods/services are higher than the average number and some are lower. For instance, car insurance has gone up a ton, but apparently fuel oil has gone down (https://econofact.org/inflation-and-prices).
I think what people are (rightly) concerned about is that the necessities of life are higher than the official numbers (because those are an average of lots of things). This makes them think the real numbers are “wrong” based their specific situation rather than the country at large.
but I’ve also been suspicious of the reported inflation numbers
Check the purchasing power of your money against hard assets like gold, stocks, land, housing, etc. “Inflation” numbers we get are CPI numbers, and those are intentionally doctored to show lower “inflation” values. For starters, they assume “stable” prices that don’t change are normal. That is a lie as prices should be going down all the time due to improved production processes. Once you realize inflation is underreported and that wages don’t even keep up with that…
My point exactly. I understand that some people feel the numbers are calculated very consistently, and I guess that’s fine, but does it really reflect what consumers are feeling? I don’t think so. Plus, inflation has been a hot button political issue. A healthy skepticism feels appropriate.
That’s a valid concern and I was wondering the same thing, but as of now, unless something leaks saying that they where lying, this is all we have to go on
And maybe it’s both
My wife is charging me 140% more for dinner now, prices are getting insane!
