Big Mac Abundance

Get 1.27 "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun" today compared to 1994.

According to the Economist’s Big Mac Index, the price of a Big Mac in the United States in 1994 was approximately $2.30. Prices could vary slightly by location (e.g., a preserved menu board from a closed McDonald's in Adak, Alaska, showed $2.45), but $2.30 represents the national average.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports 1994 blue-collar hourly wages at $11.34 putting the time price back then to around 12 minutes. Today you can invest in this classic American product for $4.99. With blue-collar wages now at $31.34, the time price has decreased by 21.5 percent to 9.54 minutes. You now get 1.27 Big Macs for the time price of one in 1994. The increase in Big Mac abundance occurred at the same time U.S. population grew 30.5 percent from 262 million to 342 million. Considering both the growth in personal Big Mac abundance as well as population growth indicates an overall increase of 65.7 percent.

You can read a nice story on the history of the Big Mac here.

Thanks McDonalds for creating such a delicious treat that grows more affordable every day.

Learn more about our infinitely bountiful planet at superabundance.com. We explain and give hundreds of examples why more people with freedom means much more resource abundances for everyone in our book, Superabundance, available at Amazon.

Gale Pooley is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, an Adjunct Scholar at the Cato Institute, and a board member at Human Progress.