Big Macs have increased in price by 40% over the last 10 years while inflation has been 18.7% over the same time period. The average hourly McDonald’s worker in 2012 made 9$ per hour. The average is currently at about $12 per hour, or a 25% increase over the same period. Adjusted for inflation, that $12 an hour is worth roughly $9.76 in 2012 dollars, or an 8% real increase. So Big Macs have gone up 40%, with 18.7% explainable by inflation and another 8% explainable by wage increases (if you believe McDonald’s really can’t afford to increase wages an average of .8% per year without raising prices) That still leaves 13.3% of the price increase unaccounted for. Prices are rising faster than wages and inflation can explain, it’s greed that’s causing this not trying to increase the minimum wage.