The time price of a family meal at McDonald’s is 25% lower than in 1958

Letter to The WSJ.

"Mr. Greene (Bob Greene’s op-ed “When McDonald’s Was an Inexpensive Treat” (March 21)) notes that his family’s entire meal—six hamburgers, four cheeseburgers, four orders of fries and three milkshakes—cost only $2.66 in 1958. With entry-level wages around $1.12 an hour at the time, that put the time price—the amount of labor time required to acquire a good or service—at two hours and 23 minutes.

Today, that same meal costs about $33.47 at my local McDonald’s. But wages have risen too. With average hourly earnings at limited-service restaurants around $18.69, the time price is now only one hour and 48 minutes. That’s a 25% decline in the time price. In other words, for the same amount of time, a worker today can buy 33% more from McDonald’s than in 1958.

McDonald’s isn’t a more expensive treat—it’s a more abundant one.

Gale L. Pooley (he teaches US economic history at Utah Tech University)"