SortStack #1207 — 2029-09-28

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. 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.

2. A one-day adult ticket to Disney World's Magic Kingdom $140

   When Disneyland opened in 1955, admission was one dollar — rides cost extra, paid with lettered coupons that gave us the phrase 'an E-ticket ride.'

3. An iPhone Pro at launch $999

   The components inside an iPhone cost Apple roughly half the sticker price — the rest covers R&D, software, marketing, and famously healthy margins.

4. A Rolls-Royce Phantom, before options $517K

   Each Phantom's 'Starlight Headliner' is hand-threaded with hundreds of fiber-optic stars — buyers can order the exact night sky from a date of their choosing.

5. 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.

6. Building the US Interstate Highway System, in the dollars of its day $114B

   Championed by Eisenhower after he saw Germany's autobahns, the system took 35 years to declare complete — the original estimate was a fraction of the final bill.

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