Every once in a while, our media class proves just how out of touch they are with average Americans.
At the Washington Post, writer Megan McArdle has just published a column arguing that eggs aren’t really that expensive, if you look at egg prices over the last hundred years.
That doesn’t change the fact that egg prices are through the roof today.
FOX News reports:
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Column arguing eggs are ‘really cheap’ compared to 100 years ago blasted: ‘Freaking nuts’
Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle attempted to reframe Americans’ concern over rising egg prices by arguing that, when compared to prices from over a century ago, the prices today are relatively fair.
Her Tuesday column “Why eggs are cheaper than you think” acknowledged the “soaring price of eggs” in recent months but provided additional context using data from as far back as 1896 to explain how “eggs are still really cheap, historically speaking.”
“If you look at old cookbooks, you will notice that the authors seem to view eggs and chicken as almost a luxury good. My 1950 ‘Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook book’ contains recipes for making mock chicken dishes — out of veal. Go back further and the 1896 Fannie Farmer cookbook sternly informs readers that, ‘eggs, even at twenty-five cents per dozen, should not be freely used by the strict economist.’ An odd assertion to the modern ear, until you realize that in 1896 a pound of round steak was about 35 percent cheaper than a pound of eggs,” McArdle wrote.
This argument followed a previous Twitter trend in January that had social media users declaring eggs a “luxury item” with people displaying photos of prices as high as $11.49.
McArdle is dumbfounded by the blowback she has received.
I honestly can’t believe there are people getting mad about this column: https://t.co/2W04VrHX3F
— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) February 7, 2023
“Be happy you’re not a serf” is a take. A bad one, but a take nonetheless. https://t.co/KtXqNDEVSd
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) February 7, 2023
The media continues to mock you. https://t.co/EecjUHBB65
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) February 7, 2023
I guess there is a market for op/eds that try to normalize the hideously regressive tax known as inflation. I don’t happen to know any buyers in that market, though.
— Raging Minarchist (@RMinarchist) February 7, 2023
It’s really annoying the way some people in media try to spin inflation for Biden.