03/19/10 Stockholm, Sweden – The Economist has recently released its latest Big Mac Index, where Norway still reigns supreme with the most expensive burger around. When I was in Oslo a few months ago I tried desperately to get my hands on one of these must be better than average, almost $7 burgers, but to no avail. When hunger struck there was no McDonald’s in sight, and I ended up eating at Burger King instead. Clearly not quite the same…
More important than my failed expensive burger eating attempt is what the new rankings show about US-China relations… in particular over the small matter of yuan appreciation. According to the Economist‘s findings, “the yuan is 49% below its fair-value benchmark with the dollar.” Whether that’s enough for Tim Geithner and the US Treasury to label it a currency manipulator this coming mid-April is yet to be seen.
The rankings also show how strong the commodities-backed Australian and Canadian dollars have become. Here are the rest of the top and bottom five Big Mac Index countries with their respective burger prices:
Top 5 – Most Expensive Big Macs
* Norway, $6.87
* Switzerland, $6.16
* Euro area, $4.62
* Canada, $4.06
* Australia, $3.98
Bottom 5 – Least Expensive Big Macs
* Taiwan, $2.36
* Indonesia, $2.28
* Thailand, $2.16
* Malaysia, $2.12
* China, $1.83
See the graphic, complete list, and more details at The Economist’s coverage of how the Big Mac index shows the Chinese yuan is still undervalued.
Best,
Rocky Vega,
The Daily Reckoning
Rocky Vega
Rocky Vega is publisher of Agora Financial International, where he advances the growth of Agora Financial publishing enterprises outside of the US. Previously, he was publisher of The Daily Reckoning, and founding publisher of both UrbanTurf and RFID Update -- which he ran from Brazil, Chile, and Puerto Rico -- as well as associate publisher of FierceFinance. Rocky has an honors MS from the Stockholm School of Economics and an honors BA from Harvard University, where he served on the board of directors for Let’s Go Publications, Harvard Student Agencies, and The Harvard Advocate.
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Thanks for the information you have been provided here this is really great…i like it..
Compare currency conversion using the exchange rate and the big mac index is good way to compare the exchange rate with “the reality”. Check http://www.thebigmacindex.com