SortStack #1116 — 2029-06-29
By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.
- A Big Mac in the United States, on average $5.80
The Economist's 'Big Mac Index' uses this burger's price worldwide as a playful gauge of whether currencies are over- or undervalued.
- A new hot-air balloon with basket and burner $40K
The envelope fabric slowly degrades with UV exposure — most balloons retire after a few hundred flight hours, making cost per flight surprisingly high.
- A new Porsche 911 Carrera $120K
The 911's silhouette has barely changed since 1963 — Porsche claims over 70% of all 911s ever built are still on the road.
- A new Ferrari 296 GTB $340K
Ferrari deliberately limits production below demand — the company makes more profit per car than almost any automaker, and the waitlist is part of the product.
- The Louisiana Purchase, as the US paid France $15M
The 1803 nominal price bought about 2.1 million square kilometers — roughly three cents per acre — and doubled the size of the United States overnight.
- Stan, one of the most complete T. rex skeletons ever found $31.8M
After the record 2020 sale, Stan's whereabouts were a mystery for years — he eventually surfaced as the future star of a new natural history museum in Abu Dhabi.