At the risk of defending quackery, most claims about inflation being inaccurate involve the changes made to CPI estimations in 1996. I'll go as far as to say I've never heard any claim that is inaccurate going back to the 1970s.

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vel0city 6 days ago | parent [-]

Still, if the "real" inflation rate was ~10% starting in 1996 then a $5 burger today supposedly cost ~$0.30 in 1996.

A lot of soda vending machines will sell a 20oz bottle of soda for ~$2.50. Were soda vending machines selling bottles of soda for $0.15 back then? No.

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cpburns2009 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

I distinctly remember McDonald's regular hamburgers costing around $0.30-0.40 in the mid '90s which costs around $4 now.

	▲	vel0city 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		McDonald's regular hamburgers don't cost anywhere near $4 for most people. A hamburger at the McDonald's down the street from me costs $1.59. A cheeseburger costs $1.79. A double cheeseburger costs $2.79. A Quarter Pounder w/Cheese meal today is ~$8 today, in the 90s it was ~$3. I remember you could get two cheeseburgers for a dollar in the late 90s, so ~$0.50. The inflation rate for something to go from $0.50 to $1.79 that's a 4.5% inflation rate, still quite a way off from people's arguments of 10%. And for the QPC meal comparison, that's ~3.3%. Higher than 2% for sure, but its also a single restaurant comparison on a single item here where its highest cost component (beef patty) has experienced overall higher rates of inflation compared to most other things. A restaurant that many people feel has gone up in price more than expectations of the rest of prices. Link for the $3 90's price for a QPC: https://wealthgang.com/mcdonalds-prices-throughout-the-years...

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bombcar 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Guys and Dolls has 15 cent hot dogs advertised in one of the shots.

Gas station hot dogs are about $1.50 now.

Which is less than I’d have expected it to be, to be honest.

	▲	vel0city 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		For a good to go from ~$0.15 to ~$1.50 from 1930 to 2025, the annual inflation rate would be... ...about 2.45% per year. And I'd probably take a 2025 hotdog over a 1930 hotdog, there's been a lot of food safety regulations passed since.