2 / 29
Dec 2024

I'm stressed--
Let's talk about the economy!

The Big Mac index is a real index to compare global Big Mac prices. To explain it very badly, you can kinda sorta not really use it to check exchange rates.

So let's make a Tapas Big Wac Index and figure out who has the best/worst economy

Highest price gets crowned the Burger King


I will go first--

My story is inspired by the 16th century so technology is about that level. No high tech farming means higher costs. But people in this world have fantasy powers, maybe someone do it...
And there's no animals in my world, so no meat and no meat prices.

I wondered if the tomato would make it a luxury item since tomatoes are from America and my characters are in fantasy Eurasia BUT it turns out Big Macs don't even have tomatoes?

So for price I think my Renaissance WcDonald's can still go for cheap prices.
Now all that's left is to determine what cheap means...

The only time money is shown in this world is when the MC offers 8 'Marks' for a unfinished map from a famous artist. Canonically it took the MC a long time to save up for that map. What is the Big Wac to labor rate? How many Big Wacs would you pay for a WIP from your fav artist?

Marks aren't the only currency in this world but it's the only one mentioned so I'm going with--

0.07 Marks per Big MacWac which is maybe .5 hours of labor

Anyway, this entire exercise made me realize I need to fix the economy

A big Mac costs five dollars (in Montana) in my fantasy story Crystal Blue. It's set in the USA but the economy is just slightly worse than the modern USA. That said, neither of my MCs would eat big Mac's because one has a sense of smell so keen she'd be able to smell EVERY preservative and chemical, and the other would instantly die

Instant death?! Something is up with either your MC or the Big Macs

I think it might be the Big Macs honestly

He's a fairy, and they have ties to plants so they absorb toxins VERY quickly. He would literally shrivel up/wilt.

Ooooh! This looks fun! I am going to use my world for a story I'm working on since its much more developed then my currents ones.

For context, my world is completely made up but doesn't have anything magical and is pretty grounded. An unskilled laborer here makes about 5 coin a day.

Big Mac Ingredients

Two beef patties and cheese - They don't raise cows so beef and milk is hard to get - 50 coin
Lettuce, Pickles, Onions - All of these are grown in the kingdom so they would be easy to get - 1/2 coin
Big Mac sauce, a Thousand Island-type dressing - Looked up what goes in this type of dressing and it would be slightly harder to get - 10 coin
Three-slice sesame-seed bun - wheat has to be imported so it would be expensive - 30 coin

Cost for one big mac - 91 coin (Money is rounded up here) Add in profit and tax. I'll say 100 coin for a big mac

So in my world, the average worker would have to work almost three weeks to afford one big mac.

I dont eat Big Macs in real life, so I dont even think about them fantasy wise.

This is such a hilarious question. And I love the length at which you went to find your answer. xD

My comic isn't fantasy, but it takes place in the '90s when BigMac combos were $2.99. Checking the MickyD's website, a BigMac "meal" (the word combo isn't used anymore?) is about $11 today. ...$2.99 for a meal might as well be a fantasy. :cry_swag:

@DasIstWunderblyat
Questionable meat? More questionable than whatever McDonald's has got going on?

@krazycafetales262
Three weeks! I hereby dub you the current Burger King

I wonder how much cake costs in your world

@Shanny8
I've never eaten a Big Mac either!

Maybe I shouldn't let Ronald taint my fantasies
But McDonald's expanding into fiction doesn't seem too far from reality

@Calculus_Homework
Now we've entered Horror

Ronald is a greedy boy

Aight, so done some research into prices and what I have canonically established within Trespasser.

The only writing price within the text of the story is this one, 50fl for Kyara to park her Hovercycle for a full day.

So looking into parking costs for one of the major cities in my area, I found this:

Knowing she had to be back by sundown in this chapter, and sometime before noon, let's assume she was out for roughly 10 hours. Using the rate listed about that would amount to €17,20 in parking fees.

Now we have established a conversion rate! between € and fl, namely €1 = 1,45 fl.

A Big Mac in area costs this:

Then, assuming a 1:1 ratio between parking and Big Macs, a Big Mac would cost Kyara a whopping 8,72fl

The one issue being that McDonalds doesn't exist on n-084/T some 5000 years into our future :laughing:

Defining Daecon takes place in present day Canada. A Big Mac combo is around $12 Canadian.

Wild Nights, Hot and Crazy Days takes place in Canada too, but the time span ranges from 1984 to 2000. A Big Mac combo cost $3.85 in 1999. I wouldn’t have known what one cost in 1984 because I was a kid and never would have been able to afford one, but I do remember getting McD’s gift certificates in my Halloween bag, and with a dollar gift certificate you could get a plain burger, a small fries, and a small pop. The burger was a quarter, and for another dime you could get a cheeseburger. I distinctly remember thinking “Who the hell would pay ten cents for a slice of cheese?!?!?”

AngHell dela Blackpill could arguably be urban fantasy if you consider angels and demons to be fantasy creatures.

It's set in an unnamed big city somewhere in North America (USA or Canada... you the reader are free to speculate all you want) with occasional flashbacks to certain periods in history.

So with that said...

Before 1758 (supposedly the year when hamburger was invented)... non existent so far. ADB flashbacked to the late 16th century when Spain had control of Manila but still had to fight rebel chieftains who refuse to submit to Spain.

Have a planned Flashback to the 1890s to 1900s (last days of Spanish occupation and transition to American occupation)... and hamburger cost 5 cents during that time. So big mac would probably be 8 to 10 cents :laughing:

And since this comic is set in the modern era (2020s...) it's $5.29 USD for the sandwich and $9.29 for the meal :laughing:

Hmmm interesting.

My story is a dystopic world. There are 2 major cities that have proper currencies: Aeroz and Asenya

Asenya has "Faction Creds". So 4 different currencies with varying economic value. I guess each would pay differently for a Big Mac. But on average it should cost 100 Faction Creds.

Aeroz has Aztranz. Now this place has a thriving economy. So a Big Mac can sell for as cheap as 2 Aztranz.

Guys, my comic’s economy is so funky. What would happen to the economy of an island that’s closed off from the rest of the world and the only imports are random things that get washed up? Is a big mac even possible to exist?

Two 100% beef patties (Yeah they have some kind of cow-like animal)
Pasteurized process American cheese (Yes. They definitely have cheese, not American, but there is cheese.)
Shredded lettuce (idk… maybe we can substitute some random leaves?)
Pickle slices (yes. There is actually an episode where they eat pickles lol)
Minced onions (mmmm idk)
Big Mac sauce, a Thousand Island-type dressing (nope)
Three-slice sesame-seed bun (yes bread is life)
Tomato (definitely no tomatoes)

In short it’s impossible to make a big mac in my comic’s economy so its price is $∞ I WIN!!!!
I’ve never thought about my comic’s currency before. It’s literally not relevant :skull: Mev just steals everything she would want to buy and Ian’s too rich to ever think about money.

Also I’ve never had a big mac so 🤷

I eat McDonalds- I just havent eaten a Big Mac in the last almost 30 years...I [really] hate the taste of that sauce.

I mainly just do double cheeseburgers there...if I do get a taste for a beefier burger then I'll eat double quarter pounder with cheese; short of lately though I havent eaten McDonalds in some weeks

@KevinReijnders
So would you say the minimum wage would be the same as in your area?
I'm realizing we need labor to Big Wac ratios to figure out which fictional economy is truly broken here

@ThunderChicken
Another past price. The fantasy continues--

@kyupol
Oo and another one

@Glofernwolfe
Wow that sounds like a big difference! Unless Creds to Aztranz is like yen to dollars or smth
What's the minimum wage here?

@ArtGremlin
Between the imports and price, I wish your economy a very get well soon

I'm not sure whether the actual price for your Big Wac should be 0 or infinity, but you can have this anyway

@Shanny8
30 years? That must be some really bad sauce

This is interesting! I only have a WIP right now and I haven’t really thought about the economy yet, but here we go:

So first of all, the setting is important. The story takes place in a union of 6 countries called the Alliance of Thendia, which is similar to the European Union. All participating countries therefore share a currency called the Thendian Amaru, which is worth slightly more than one dollar. However, each country also has its own currency, that is mostly used in more rural areas. Prices in each country also vary.

Then, there is the problem of Big Macs, because there aren’t really any Big Macs or fast food chains in this world. So I’ll just use the fast food item that comes closest to a Big Mac, which is the giant Flamecrisp Dumpling from Hellalunia. There, it costs about 3 to 4 Thendian Amaru (depending on where you are) or 7 Sparks (Hellalunian currency).

Then again, prices tend to vary extremely. In Kheltra, for example, you could get a Flamecrisp Dumpling for whooping 18 Thendian Amaru (about 20 dollars) or “2 half moons and a waning moon” because the coins there have moon phases on them. In Khozt on the other hand, a Flamecrisp Dumpling would cost only half an Amaru or 16 Timetinkles, but you wouldn’t really have a way to find out what’s really in this dumpling, making it at least as sketchy as an actual Big Mac, if not worse.

Another weird thing is that in some areas, anything can be used as currency. In Mirdan, the seaside villages often use seashells. In Lambunia, remote villages sometimes use flower petals preserved by magic. Some areas even use blood as currency (though this happens mostly in communities with a high Hidden Red rate and is generally looked down upon).

And of course there is magic so you could theoretically produce your own currency, but this is highly illegal (however, in some areas, people just don’t care).

I wager that within the city state of Oasis there wouldn't be an officially established minimum wage. I mean, they use literal child labour in factories after all (ie, how Zack lost his arm)

The other society within Trespasser, namely that of the Bunthas, doesn't even use money to begin with. A whole "each to their need and ability" sort of deal.

So for the Big Macs, in Oasis you'd have a clearly exploited underclass making them for the wealthier circles of society, while with the Bunthas it's Big Macs for all who want 'em :thinking:

7~9 Tant coins, or 1 Copp coin which is moderately affordable in my fantasy currency,
and just about the cost of a cheap imported sea-based fish, a cat folk's meal :kissing_cat:.