On a Fox Business segment that aired Wednesday, contributor Scott Martin, the Chief Investment Officer of a wealth management company, went on a tirade about the pernicious influence of inflation on the American economy. The evidence? His Taco Bell lunch order from the day before—totaling $28.
To be sure, inflation is very real, and it’s seeing restaurants across the country raise their prices to save their bottom line. And fast-food franchises are not immune to inflation’s wrath.
But Martin’s $28 lunch at Taco Bell doesn’t quite seem like a symptom of inflation. Even the show’s anchor, Neil Cavuto, was taken aback, attempting to clarify, “Wait a minute, you spent $28 at Taco Bell for just yourself?”
“It’s true,” Martin confirmed.
As the people of Twitter expressed their confusion, Martin took to the platform to share a screenshot of his now famous order.
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Anyone’s free to spend their hard-earned money however they please, but at many locations of the value franchise known for cheap options, it’s actually difficult to tally up a one-person receipt that high, as many Twitter users observed. They laid out the sheer quantity of food at their local Taco Bell that it would take to reach that total. A $28 lunch, particularly at Taco Bell, is not inevitable, and it’s avoidable—even in this era of soaring prices.
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Dennis Lee, a writer at The Takeout, deduced that, for $28, Martin could also have enjoyed “five Crunchwrap Supremes, five Beefy 5-Layer Burritos, two orders of chips and nacho cheese, Cinnamon Twists, two orders of Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, and five fountain sodas.” Whew.
As much as I worry about the state of Scott’s general well-being, and wonder how he looks so chipper on live TV a day after this order, I still struggle to sympathize with the man.
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Twitter users were skeptical of financial analysis coming from someone seemingly incapable of getting the most out of a Taco Bell combo meal. The takeaway was clear, as one Twitter user put it: “don’t think I’ll take financial advice from this guy.”