[FlamesAddiction]

Fast food went from being a cheap option to a being a luxury item for a lot of people. Any time I go for fast food, which isn't often, it's me treating myself and not because it's something cheap and quick to get on the fly.

A big reason why things like fast food are more expensive is because wages rise and the chain of production got a lot bigger and more broad. Plus things like worker safety, demand for benefits, and environmental concerns add to the costs that weren't there in the 1970s. I am not saying regulations and better standards aren't good, but they add costs that didn't exist before. Not to mention higher energy and fuel costs.

And let's face it, most jobs in the 1970s and before were probably a lot harder and took more effort. Technological advancements have made things easier it a lot of ways in most industries, so if you peg buying power to actual work and effort, people in the 1970s were probably underpaid relative to today.