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How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

economist.com

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Re: How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

#11

Post by patio11 »

antonovka wrote: post #3

The extremely small amount of time I have to work to earn a big mac seems grossly disproportionate to the labor involved in sourcing, manufacturing, and serving a Big Mac. Am I really generating N sandwiches worth of value every few minutes? Or am I (systemically) skimming value off the top of what's produced by individuals who are being paid disproportionately to the value they produce?

Am I really generating N sandwiches worth of value every few minutes?

Yes, you really are. We're programmers and businessmen -- our value scales waaaaaay the heck out of proportion to the amount of time we spend on something. I think that is awesome. (If I was a big proponent of income equality, I'd really hate it. I can do an honest day's work while sleeping by setting a system in motion to do it for me -- no manual laborer will ever be able to do that, which suggests that I will make rather more money than them, by a lot, and the gap is going to get larger over time.)

Re: How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

#12

Post by paulhart »

About a decade ago a group of contract software developers (of which I was one) decided to figure out how many seconds it took each of us to earn a cup of coffee (working for a bank, nothing was free!).

For the person who earned their coffee fastest, the machine hadn't even dropped the cup into place before he'd earned it.

Re: How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

#13

Post by RyanMcGreal »

antonovka wrote: post #3

The extremely small amount of time I have to work to earn a big mac seems grossly disproportionate to the labor involved in sourcing, manufacturing, and serving a Big Mac. Am I really generating N sandwiches worth of value every few minutes? Or am I (systemically) skimming value off the top of what's produced by individuals who are being paid disproportionately to the value they produce?

[M]ost of the wealth being created today is unearned, a "free lunch" that should, by rights, accrue to society as a whole. "A fundamental implication of modern research on economic growth is that past advances contribute far more to today's economy than current activities."

http://raisethehammer.org/article/818

Re: How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

#14

Post by joez »

seregine wrote: post #9

Of course, you're comparing apples and oranges because the price of a Big Mac is determined by the local market for Big Macs. In some places, McDonalds is considered upscale food because it's American, because it's less common, etc. In some places, the quality of McDonalds is much higher (kosher burgers in Israel, I think).

The data is also a good indication of brand consciousness in a country. People are paying a premium for the American brand.

In Beijing, a big mac meal could cost double or triple what you could get at a local restaurant. It's seen as high class (partially because it is so expensive) and parents treat their kids to a happy meal on their birthday.

Re: How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

#16

Post by clistctrl »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #13
antonovka wrote: post #3

The extremely small amount of time I have to work to earn a big mac seems grossly disproportionate to the labor involved in sourcing, manufacturing, and serving a Big Mac. Am I really generating N sandwiches worth of value every few minutes? Or am I (systemically) skimming value off the top of what's produced by individuals who are being paid disproportionately to the value they produce?

[M]ost of the wealth being created today is unearned, a "free lunch" that should, by rights, accrue to society as a whole. "A fundamental implication of modern research on economic growth is that past advances contribute far more to today's economy than current activities." http://raisethehammer.org/article/818

Its nice, I had a delicious lunch today and an even more delicious dinner and all it took was just a few lines of code. I think i wrote maybe 100. Those 100 lines accomplished a lot though. So thanks for the sushi jquery, and I enjoyed the sandwich .NET.

Re: How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

#17

Post by mrtron »

patio11 wrote: post #11
antonovka wrote: post #3

The extremely small amount of time I have to work to earn a big mac seems grossly disproportionate to the labor involved in sourcing, manufacturing, and serving a Big Mac. Am I really generating N sandwiches worth of value every few minutes? Or am I (systemically) skimming value off the top of what's produced by individuals who are being paid disproportionately to the value they produce?

Am I really generating N sandwiches worth of value every few minutes? Yes, you really are. We're programmers and businessmen -- our value scales waaaaaay the heck out of proportion to the amount of time we spend on something. I think that is awesome. (If I was a big proponent of income equality, I'd really hate it. I can do an honest day's work while sleeping by setting a system in motion to do it for me -- no manual…

As awesome as it is for us, it is incredibly shitty for the folks working in sweatshops in asia.

I am pro capitalism, but the current system does have pretty deep social costs. [a second caveat being I can suggest no superior practical alternative]

Re: How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

#18

Post by mrtron »

seregine wrote: post #9

Of course, you're comparing apples and oranges because the price of a Big Mac is determined by the local market for Big Macs. In some places, McDonalds is considered upscale food because it's American, because it's less common, etc. In some places, the quality of McDonalds is much higher (kosher burgers in Israel, I think).

How are kosher burgers higher quality?

Re: How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

#19

Post by charlesju »

antonovka wrote: post #3

The extremely small amount of time I have to work to earn a big mac seems grossly disproportionate to the labor involved in sourcing, manufacturing, and serving a Big Mac. Am I really generating N sandwiches worth of value every few minutes? Or am I (systemically) skimming value off the top of what's produced by individuals who are being paid disproportionately to the value they produce?

The market is efficient.

Re: How long do you have to work to earn a Big Mac?

#20

Post by 32587 »

joez wrote: post #14
seregine wrote: post #9

Of course, you're comparing apples and oranges because the price of a Big Mac is determined by the local market for Big Macs. In some places, McDonalds is considered upscale food because it's American, because it's less common, etc. In some places, the quality of McDonalds is much higher (kosher burgers in Israel, I think).

The data is also a good indication of brand consciousness in a country. People are paying a premium for the American brand. In Beijing, a big mac meal could cost double or triple what you could get at a local restaurant. It's seen as high class (partially because it is so expensive) and parents treat their kids to a happy meal on their birthday.

This is exactly what I've seen here in Mexico. The majority like to go to McDonald's for a mediocre event, like good grades, a pay raise or something to that effect. You would still be able to get a better meal for much less at your regular taco stand, but people pay the premium for the American brand. Whereas in other parts of the world some people go even twice a day.
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