The Current Global Economy Explained With A Big Mac

When I was uploading the picture of that Big Mac into this article, I was laughing about it because I’ve never actually seen a Big Mac that looks like that picture, have you? Richard just wrote about that a few days ago in an article called Advertised Fast Food Compared To The Real Deal. It had some hilarious pictures that show what fast food restaurants really serve, which looks a tad different. Of course, we gobble it up without really noticing it most of the time.

Did you know that you can learn a lot about the world economy by simply comparing the price of a Big Mac in different countries? According to this infographic created by Online MBA, it’s called Burgernomics. It reads, “The Big Mac Index has become a global standard of determining purchasing power between two currencies by comparing the cost of the McDonald’s burger in any two countries.”

It even goes on to provide a formula to use when calculating The Big Mac Index. Apparently in the States, a person has to work an average of about 11 minutes to earn enough money to buy a Big Mac. In Mexico City, that same person would have to work 129 minutes to be able to buy a Big Mac. Even within the same region, the price of a Big Mac can fluctuate according to the demand for the burgers. If you ever struggled to understand economics, this little Big Mac chart might be surprisingly helpful in explaining how everything is connected in its own way.

By the way, if you want to make a homemade Big Mac, here is a recipe. I wonder how making a Big Mac at home calculates into the global economy.