MrWorldwide Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 (edited) http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index Some claim its a surprisingly accurate gauge re economic realities from one country to another (Viva Argentina !), others that its an amusing time-waster - whatever you think, it's interesting to look at the differences between the 'raw' and 'adjusted' indexes : when you take 'GDP per person' into account, Thailand's position on the chart changes dramatically (as does Australia's). I'm not an economist, so I'll leave it to others to make their own conclusions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_mac_index Edited February 23, 2013 by MrWorldwide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancealot Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Indexes are always being manipulated. What you read is what they want you to read. The trick is to outsmart them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWorldwide Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 As I said, I'm not an economist, but I take your point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 I like BK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomSand Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 MCD is cheaper by a large margin in Malaysia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satcommlee Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 I always used to use the analogy that how many Pints of beer in a pub would your weekly wage buy.. Talking to the older generation, they would reminisce about the figure being like 300, but now people would say less than 100.. This Big Mac thing is not really a good comparative scale, taxes and VAT/GST vary from country to country.. I prefer the beer scale! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mopar71 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 (edited) I always used to use the analogy that how many Pints of beer in a pub would your weekly wage buy.. Talking to the older generation, they would reminisce about the figure being like 300, but now people would say less than 100.. This Big Mac thing is not really a good comparative scale, taxes and VAT/GST vary from country to country.. I prefer the beer scale! I use the beer scale too. "That's only a few Euros" just doesn't have the same impact as "that's a few pints" Edited February 23, 2013 by mopar71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akspace Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 I always used to use the analogy that how many Pints of beer in a pub would your weekly wage buy.. Talking to the older generation, they would reminisce about the figure being like 300, but now people would say less than 100.. This Big Mac thing is not really a good comparative scale, taxes and VAT/GST vary from country to country.. I prefer the beer scale! Last I checked liquor taxes vary per country too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWorldwide Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 True, and that's where Malaysia does get expensive, but the point about it being cheaper in Malaysia is an interesting one. I just dont understand why anyone would eat Maccas over Thai street food .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manarak Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 The Big Mac index only works in countries where the McDonald's meal is the cheapest meal available. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johna Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Wasn’t this BigMac thing started by that clown Thomas Friedman who writes for the New York Times, Friedman also said that no two countries that sell BigMacs have ever gone to war!!!!!! Friedman is not an economist, and having read some of his books that’s amazingly obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWorldwide Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 Wasn’t this BigMac thing started by that clown Thomas Friedman who writes for the New York Times, Friedman also said that no two countries that sell BigMacs have ever gone to war!!!!!! Friedman is not an economist, and having read some of his books that’s amazingly obvious. johna, is there any chance you could take a chill pill, please ? I did make the point at the start of this thread that it wasn't a universally accepted gauge of anything, but it makes for interesting reading when you consider how we view the relative 'wealth' pf countries in the region. Personally, it makes as much sense as some of the economic predictions being doled out by TV members on a daily basis, Given that even professional economists get it wrong when they drag out their crystal balls each year. I dont see the problem in having a little fun with the Big Mac Index. McDonald's Corporation doesn't grant franchises without doing market research - clearly, someone is buying their products in each of the countries listed in the index. You seem to be taking this thread far too seriously - it wasn't meant to raise anyone's blood pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Right now I like the Burger King index. BK has the Whopper Jr. on sale for $US1.29. Link One nice thing about the West is that you can shop sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamberal Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Wasn’t this BigMac thing started by that clown Thomas Friedman who writes for the New York Times, Friedman also said that no two countries that sell BigMacs have ever gone to war!!!!!! Friedman is not an economist, and having read some of his books that’s amazingly obvious. Friedman knows nothing about economics, and you do? What is your occupation, just as a matter of interest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel_Mustard Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 I just dont understand why anyone would eat Maccas over Thai street food .... Because it tastes better to them? Because they get tired of Thai food all the time? Because they miss a taste from home? I must admit I'm fairly partial to an Big Mac from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWorldwide Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Each to his own, Col Mustard. The longest I've spent in Thailand at any one time is only 3 months - it may well be that one does come to want something different over a longer period. I'm no Puritan when it comes to junk food - I really like the food from the Thai 'chicken and Pizza' chain (name escapes me) near Emporium / Benjasiri Park - not sure if it would have survived the Wa Square redevelopment but the food was excellent. Definitely more expensive than Maccas, but I guess we get what we pay for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impulse Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 (edited) Big Mac index is fun, but too much under the influence of one company. And in the USA, MacDonalds is considered the lowest rung of eating out whereas in many countries, it's considered a real treat.I also like "weeks you work to buy one square meter of housing" or"months you work to buy a car" or"minutes you work to pay for lunch (regardless of quality)""minutes you work to pay for bottled water or a Coke, etc" Edited February 24, 2013 by impulse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpatOilWorker Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 "weeks you work to buy one square meter of housing" - 0.5 weeks"months you work to buy a car" - 2 months"minutes you work to pay for lunch (regardless of quality)" - 15 min"minutes you work to pay for bottled water or a Coke, etc" - 2 min Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DP25 Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 The Big Mac index only works in countries where the McDonald's meal is the cheapest meal available. Exactly. The Big Mac index is completely useless in countries where McDonalds is a mid priced restaurant instead of the cheapest junk available. It is aimed at a totally different market in Thailand than in the US, and is priced far higher than cheap local food. Additionally this index would change a lot just based on what menu item you use. Change it to a double cheeseburger for instance, and suddenly Thailand is MORE expensive than the US. A double cheeseburger here is about $3, in the US it was $1.20 last time I had one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akspace Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 True, and that's where Malaysia does get expensive, but the point about it being cheaper in Malaysia is an interesting one. I just dont understand why anyone would eat Maccas over Thai street food .... Because you've gotten food poisoning for the second time in a two week trip and you just want to eat something you know won't make you sick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impulse Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 "weeks you work to buy one square meter of housing" - 0.5 weeks "months you work to buy a car" - 2 months "minutes you work to pay for lunch (regardless of quality)" - 15 min "minutes you work to pay for bottled water or a Coke, etc" - 2 min But you and I don't count in a survey of Thailand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWorldwide Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 True, and that's where Malaysia does get expensive, but the point about it being cheaper in Malaysia is an interesting one. I just dont understand why anyone would eat Maccas over Thai street food .... Because you've gotten food poisoning for the second time in a two week trip and you just want to eat something you know won't make you sick I guess we have had different experiences, but Pnomh Penh remains the only city to ever poison me. 48 hours of violent diarrhea and projectile vomiting in a very amusing sequence that had me perched on the edge of that bowl for hours at a time - Pol Pot himself would have approved (granted, it can happen anywhere - people are poisoned in Sydney on a regular basis - but I thought my number was up at a roadside cafe en route to Bandung. My hosts insisted that I try a pastry (!) that the cafe was famous for, but the hygiene in that place was abysmal - right up to the generator sitting in the middle of the floor to run the fridge. Nothing like diesel fumes to make a mid-morning snack truly memorable, but all I got was a touch of the squirts. Cambo definitely evened the scales, though - any illusion that I had 'cast iron guts' completely vanished) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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