Ground Beef in Gold
Ounces of gold per lb of ground beef · Quotes delayed up to 5 minutesThe pound of ground beef priced in ounces of gold across the post-1970 period. Ground beef is a useful benchmark because it sits at the intersection of agricultural and energy costs (cattle feed, fuel for processing and transport) and reveals the food-cost component of household inflation in stable monetary terms.
Analyst's Note
Beef has shown more variation in gold terms than bread, primarily because cattle production has had several supply-driven shocks (drought cycles in the U.S. plains, herd reduction policies, regional disease outbreaks). Despite this volatility, beef has cost roughly the same amount of gold across the 50-year period, with no persistent upward trend. The slight cyclical pattern reflects cattle-cycle dynamics rather than monetary effects. For the analytical investor, the beef chart confirms what the bread chart suggests: in real terms (denominated in stable monetary units), food has gotten slightly cheaper over the past half century due to productivity gains, despite headline dollar prices having risen 5–10x.
The pound of ground beef priced in ounces of gold across the post-1970 period. Ground beef is a useful benchmark because it sits at the intersection of agricultural and energy costs (cattle feed, fuel for processing and transport) and reveals the food-cost component of household inflation in stable monetary terms.
Analyst's Note
Beef has shown more variation in gold terms than bread, primarily because cattle production has had several supply-driven shocks (drought cycles in the U.S. plains, herd reduction policies, regional disease outbreaks). Despite this volatility, beef has cost roughly the same amount of gold across the 50-year period, with no persistent upward trend. The slight cyclical pattern reflects cattle-cycle dynamics rather than monetary effects. For the analytical investor, the beef chart confirms what the bread chart suggests: in real terms (denominated in stable monetary units), food has gotten slightly cheaper over the past half century due to productivity gains, despite headline dollar prices having risen 5–10x.
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