At the risk of defending quackery, most claims about inflation being inaccurate involve the changes made to CPI estimations in 1996. I'll go as far as to say I've never heard any claim that is inaccurate going back to the 1970s.
McDonald's regular hamburgers don't cost anywhere near $4 for most people. A hamburger at the McDonald's down the street from me costs $1.59. A cheeseburger costs $1.79. A double cheeseburger costs $2.79. A Quarter Pounder w/Cheese meal today is ~$8 today, in the 90s it was ~$3.
I remember you could get two cheeseburgers for a dollar in the late 90s, so ~$0.50. The inflation rate for something to go from $0.50 to $1.79 that's a 4.5% inflation rate, still quite a way off from people's arguments of 10%. And for the QPC meal comparison, that's ~3.3%. Higher than 2% for sure, but its also a single restaurant comparison on a single item here where its highest cost component (beef patty) has experienced overall higher rates of inflation compared to most other things. A restaurant that many people feel has gone up in price more than expectations of the rest of prices.
