our money has no value anymore since it was taken off the gold standard
Our money has value because it can be redeemed to pay down US-based debts, particularly tax debts. This is - and has always been - the real value of any currency. Go ask David Graeber for the details. But the TL;DR; is that we use coinage as a form of extortion. “You need to give us stuff to get coins which you can then pay us to avoid the threat of state violence.” Roman soldiers working overseas were paid in coins, while they were charged with collecting these coins as a tax, in order to integrate conquered economies into the Roman Empire. You had to provide goods/services to the soldiers so they could take them off you every taxation period.
Literally, money is a protection racket.
Also, who the fuck wants to eat a Big Mac? That shit’s disgusting.
until they just decide the promotion is over and they don’t have to accept them anymore
Fiat currency is socially constructed and would cease to exist if we stopped believing in it. It’s just that the value of gold works exactly the same way.
Since McDonalds doesn’t keep a Big Mac in a vault for every coin they issue, but rather make one whenever a coin is spent, it’s the exact same principle as other currency. And like other currency, its value derives from everyone’s trust in McDonalds’ ability to keep making Big Macs in the future.
It’s not the same principle because it’s always one Big Mac. All the dollar stores are one dollar and up stores now.
It’s not the same principle because it’s always one Big Mac.
Big Macs used to sell for $.50 and now they sell for $8. So one could argue the coins are actually a hedge against inflation.
Incidentally, US Forever Stamps serve a similar purpose.
Yeah, but a Big Mac today isn’t the same it used to be, either.
They still use 1/10 pound patties, but they weigh them uncooked, and meat today has more water in it that’s lost during cooking.
(This is why the general view that Big Macs got smaller and McDonalds’ claim they still use the same size patties are both true, by the way.)
How old is this post? USD was fully off the gold standard by 1971.
This feels like a viral ad
It’s working, I want a Big Mac coin! McD messed up my order plenty of times, and I never got a voucher, they just fix the problem. And I’d feel weird pretending to be upset, just to get a nice shiny Big Mac coin.
While a big mac has intrinsic value, the value of the coin is based on trusting McD honouring the agreement. Will they still accept the coins 10 years from now when they have forgotten they were issued? Will they be sued out of existence after their meat substitute mushroom burger left in the sun for too long comes alive an eats 9 customers and and a minivan?
The value of the dollar is based on trusting the US central bank and/or governmemt to be responsible enough.
While you should not blindly trust either McD or the government, the latter has a longer track record, even though they seem like they are going to eat a metaphorical minivan soon.
Also, the gold standard was based on trust too. You trusted that the government would honour your request to exchange dollars for gold. There was nothing magical about being on the gold standard.
Money is just IOUs created by the government. The government uses them to pay for goods and services it wants. If the government wants someone to guard a building, they pay in IOUs. Then, every year, the government taxes everybody in the country and demands that they return a certain number of government IOUs to the country. It’s this obligation to pay taxes that gives their IOUs their value.
The person who was paid to guard a building is left holding a pile of IOUs. Fundamentally, they’re worthless. But, there are other people in the country who have to pay taxes and aren’t doing jobs for the government. So, the guy with the IOUs goes to the farmer and says “I know you’re going to need to pay taxes and don’t have any IOUs, I’ll trade you some of my IOUs for some of your vegetables”. After that exchange the farmer has enough IOUs to pay the government at tax time, and the guard still has enough to pay his own taxes.
Also, the gold standard was based on trust too. You trusted that the government would honour your request to exchange dollars for gold.
You also trusted that the supply of gold would not suddenly increase and devalue gold as a commodity. Or that demand for the specie doesn’t collapse because… let’s say, hypothetically, the world’s largest economy stops keeping it as a reserve currency.
The former happened in the second half of the 16th century, in an event known as the Price Revolution.
The latter was part of the Nixon Shock, following the unilateral cancellation of the direct international convertibility of the United States dollar to gold.
Incidentally, Nixon exiting the Gold Standard could more rightly be pinned on Charles DeGaulle.
In February 1965, French president Charles de Gaulle announced his intention to redeem U.S. dollar reserves for gold at the official exchange rate. By 1966, non-U.S. central banks held $14 billion in U.S. dollars, while the United States had only $13.2 billion in gold reserves, of which only $3.2 billion was available to cover foreign holdings.
In March 1968, the London Gold Pool collapsed.
In May 1971, West Germany left the Bretton Woods system, unwilling to sell further Deutschmarks for U.S. dollars.[10] In the following three months, the U.S. dollar dropped 7.5% against the Deutschmark, and other nations began to demand redemption of their U.S. dollars for gold.[10] On August 5, 1971, the United States Congress released a report recommending devaluation of the dollar in an effort to protect their currency against “foreign price-gougers”.[10] Also in August, French president Georges Pompidou sent a battleship to New York City to retrieve French gold deposits.[11] On August 9, 1971, as the dollar dropped in value against European currencies, Switzerland left the Bretton Woods system.[10] Pressure intensified on the United States to leave the Bretton Woods system. On August 11, Britain requested $3 billion in gold be moved from Fort Knox to the Federal Reserve in New York.[11] As Paul Volcker, then Undersecretary of the United States Department of the Treasury for Monetary Affairs, later put it:
Will they be sued out of existence after their meat substitute mushroom burger left in the sun for too long comes alive an eats 9 customers and and a minivan?
Idk if I’m going to pick a fight with a restaurant chain that can harness that kind of firepower.
I dunno, I wouldn’t take a bet on wether the US will outlive McDonald’s or vice versa.
Honestly I’d bet McDonalds will outlive the US government. It’s one of those companies that is literally too big to fail
Sounds like we are one step away from Mcdonald crypto coin backed by the big mac
Big Macs are gross though.
You don’t have to like them. You just need to believe that there is someone that believes there’s someone that likes them. Simple.
Given the existance of The Big Mac Index, which seeks to compare global currencies and their respective buying power, this is actually fascinating.
Interestingly, Taiwan has one of the lowest big Mac prices but that doesn’t really correlate with their purchasing power
Honestly, even more fascinating. …why???
Demand theory of value
That coin is clever because some people would rather keep the coin and the coin probably costs less to make than the Big Mac.
Yeah my first thought was “dang that’s neat how do I get the coin?” and I don’t even like Big Macs.
Edit: they’re available on eBay for $10 or less, some below $5.
seems like OPs statement rings true if they’re worth upwards of 5 dollars
Come to think about it, mass buying food vouchers wherever possible during times of extreme currency instability is probably not a novel idea.
People traded black market food-voucher derivatives in the Brazilian hyper inflation…
It made it easier to redeem all of them as soon as you got a hold of them, because they wouldn’t buy the same thing through the entire month. Natural gas vouchers were more stable, though, so those only traded at face value.
It would be, if enshitification didn’t exist. Who knows if McDo decides one day to reduce meat or other expensive ingredients? Or substitute ingredients?
We got McBretten Wood system before gta vi
GTA is for scabs now anyways
It’s like Schrodinger’s Currency.
It’s either full value or zero value.
You either get a big Mac or McDonald’s decides they are no longer accepting coins, or rather no longer accepting them from you.
I guess in a way - that is all currency 🤔
BitCoin? 🤚🙂↔️
Big Mac Coin? ️☝🙂↕️️
Shortly after Donnie finds out…
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
The RADICAL LEFT wants you to eat bugs and kale. NOT ON MY WATCH! We are building a massive reserve of Big Mac Coins. High quality, high VALUE! I met with the Hamburglar—great guy, very misunderstood—and he agrees: the Mac Coin is going to the MOON! Crypto is fine, but you can’t eat a Bitcoin! A total disaster for SLEEPY JOE, but a HUGE WIN for your stomach! 🇺🇸🍔💰 🇺🇸#BigMacStandard #FastFoodFinancials
Far too coherent, this was definitely written by an intern not DJT himself. ;-)
Not NEARLY enough ALL CAPS
Lol, corrected!
But who wrote it if there’s no sign-off of the author’s initials??
I’m personally offended that I wasn’t thanked for my attention to this matter
