The Big Mac Index 🍔

This is The Hedge, the newsletter that winds down the window as you pull into a car park and hands you a ticket that still has 2 hours on it. 

Reading Time: 5m 07sec

• Prices accurate as of approximately Wednesday 4:30PM BST.

✈️ Heathrow Airport Loses £312m

Investing in the airline industry is a hell of a game. Whether it's terrorist attacks, crazy fuel prices or a fuckin' pandemic, the airline industry is a right bastard to be in. It's gotten to the point where a lot of the companies in the space are barely even worth anything anymore.

Case in point is British Airways. There's a running joke that the company is actually a pension fund with an airline attached. That's because International Consolidated Airlines (the parent company of British Airways, plus Iberia, Aer Lingus, Air Europa and Vueling) is worth around £5.6 billion, while the British Airways Pension Scheme is worth almost £27 billion! Mad, huh?

Heathrow Airport is in the news this week as they've lost £312 million in the first half of this year. Airports have been a nightmare this year, with Brits keen as hell to get some sunshine overseas after a couple of years of mostly missing out on summer holidays.

The problem is, there aren't enough staff to run the airports properly, and they're struggling to hire more. A large part of the problem is that holiday makers are using up vouchers and credits from previously cancelled holidays, as well as booking new ones. 

Time is money for airlines, with thousands of pounds in costs and lost revenue adding up every minute that delayed aircraft sit waiting on the tarmac. Add in compensation for flights that are cancelled altogether plus a huge surge in lost luggage, and you've got yourself another expensive summer for the airline industry.

Rishi and Lizzo's Plan for Your Money

I can't think of much that's more boring than the fuckin' Tory leadership vote. Why is the media coverage acting like we have a say in it? It's not a general election. There are 160,000 Tory party members in this country, and they're the ones who'll choose the next PM. That's 0.24% of the UK Population. Awesome.

So why are they showing debates on prime time TV?

Surely just putting the whole thing on Kirstie Allsop's Twitter feed and a feature in the Waitrose Magazine would cover all the bases? For fuck's sake.

So why am I even bringing this up then? Well even though we (well, maybe you can, I dunno) can't vote for the next PM, whoever wins is going to impact our hip pockets. So here's the cliff notes:

Rishi Sunak

• Will reduce taxes "once we've gripped inflation".

• Wants to make "radical reforms" to the way businesses are taxed.

• Will cut income tax "before the next parliament".

• Planned company tax increase to 25% from 19% will go ahead in 2023.

• Wants to support insulation as a way to combat energy prices. Insulate Britain would applaud that but they've glued their hands to a motorway in Milton Keynes.

• He's been the Chancellor since the start of 2020, so it's not too surprising that he's not planning on changing much if he wins. It would make him look like a bit of an idiot.

Liz Truss

• Will reverse the recent increase 1.25 percentage point increase in National Insurance.

• Will scrap the planned increase in company tax and keep it at 19%.

• Would change the tax system to make it easier for people to stay home and care for kids or old people. No details on how she'd do that.

• Would introduce "low and no-tax zones" to encourage innovation and business.

• No cuts to public spending.

• Will pay for all this by spreading the Covid Debt over a longer period of time.

So basically, Rishi is playing Sensible Sam and trying to convince the country that we need to tighten our belts. Easy to say coming from a guy with a net worth of £750m. His belt's probably made from the skins of baby iguanas.

Liz, on the other hand, is playing the general election vote getters by cutting tax whilst not cutting spending. I'm not sure how it's going to play with Tory members.

Cue the cat calls from the old, grey haired Tory voter base "how are we going to pay for that?" "Money doesn't grow on trees you know!" without recognising the irony of the fact that the whole system is made up, we control our own printing press and for wealthy people money does, in fact, grow on trees.

🍔 McDonald's Cheeseburger Price Hike

The humble and delicious McDonald's Cheeseburger is getting a price increase for the first time in 14 years. No longer will a single pound coin buy you the world's greatest hangover cure, now you'll need to part with £1.19 to get your fix. That's a 20% increase.

The price of Macca's burgers is actually watched pretty closely around the world, and since 1986 The Economist has been tracking The Big Mac Index. It started as a bit of a joke, but it's now used as a semi-serious way to compare currency valuations around the world. It's pretty fascinating.

🔺 The Hedge Community

Ok so my vision for The Hedge isn't just me shouting into the void, but I'm sick to death of social media. So I want to create a place where we can discuss ideas, investments and news. With that in mind, I've set up an online community where you can join me for these discussions.

I'm using Discord, which is awesome but I'm still learning the in's and out's of it. Here's the link if you want to join.

As well as ad-hoc text discussions throughout the day, my plan is to jump into the video and voice channels from time to time when there's something particularly big to talk about.

Warning: There is a strict "No Dickheads" policy. I want it to be a positive and interesting place to be, so bring those optimistic vibes and come and have a chat. I'll be on there every day!

💷 Make More Money

Quit Your Job

We're in a tight job market right now. Companies are struggling to find great candidates to fill open positions, just like Heathrow Airport. There's never been a better time to look for something that pays you more money.

Maybe you've gotten comfortable. Maybe you like your coworkers. Maybe you don't need to work too hard. But are you earning what you're worth? Change jobs. Look at this shit 👇

Whether it's your car insurance, mobile phone contract, grocery shopping or your job - loyalty does not pay. Get out there and see what's what.

🌏 Snippets

• Shopify announces layoffs with a plan to reduce headcount by 10%.

• Primark and Greggs are hooking up for the hottest collab of the summer. You can get bum bags, shirts and hoodies with your steak bake from August 5th.

• British tourists will need to have proof of funds of at least £760 to enter Spain under new post-Brexit travel rules.

• Users are pissed about Instagrams latest move to emulate TikTok, and even the Kardashians aren't keen.

• British satellite company OneWeb is set to merge with French counterpart Eutelsat, giving them the firepower to take on Elon Musk's Starlink.

See you next week 🚀

Jason