The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool • Hacker News Board

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#131

Post by jaclaz » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:39 PM UTC

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #53

moffkalast wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there's more to consider here too that makes it irrelevant in terms of currency comparison. Usually cheap stuff like bread is notoriously expensive in Switzerland for example, I'd assume because the price of labour is that high. As such the cost of making a big mac there is also more expensive, buying power is higher, so to meet demand and recoup labour costs the end prices are higher. Same for the other extr…

>Usually cheap stuff like bread is notoriously expensive in Switzerland for example, maybe ingredient quality in some places might be legally mandated, increasing price (I know everyone gets the same, but not if the law says different) basically the thing I'm thinking of is an article about a year ago where some sort of white bread was declared legally not bread but a form of cake by some EU country - can't remember…

I think you are referring to Subway sandwich bread:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/subway-s-sandwich-bread-i...

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#132

Post by lukas099 » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:40 PM UTC

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #92

forinti wrote: post #86

One caveat about this index is that is does not consider the fact that Macdonald's has different types of customers in different countries. In rich countries, it targets lower income strata. In the third world, it targets middle and upper middle class. You can get much cheaper local food (and probably more nutritious food) on the streets. Therefore, Macdonald's is relatively more expensive in poorer countries.

> In rich countries, it targets lower income strata. [citation needed]; anecdotal, I live in a rich country, a trip to McD's for a family of 3 quickly adds up to €25; home cooked dinner is I will acknowledge that the ability to cook food at home and having access to a supermarket that actually stocks fresh vegetables and the like is a rich country's privilege. That said, I gathered there's plenty of places in the US…

Where I live, McDonald's is indeed more expensive than a home-cooked dinner, but it still targets the lower income strata.

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#133

Post by whatgoodisaroad » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:40 PM UTC

Is this not more of a measure of beef related farm subsidies?

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#134

Post by jaclaz » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

gruez wrote: post #65

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Usually cheap stuff like bread is notoriously expensive in Switzerland for example, maybe ingredient quality in some places might be legally mandated, increasing price (I know everyone gets the same, but not if the law says different) basically the thing I'm thinking of is an article about a year ago where some sort of white bread was declared legally not bread but a form of cake by some EU country - can't remember…

That's not really an issue because big mac advertising rarely mentions "bread" explicitly. They could make it out of actual cake, and probably be fine as long as they called it a "bun" rather than "bread".

It is not about the advertising, it is about the nature of the bread to fit the one or the other tax (VAT) bracket.

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#135

Post by danans » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #92

forinti wrote: post #86

One caveat about this index is that is does not consider the fact that Macdonald's has different types of customers in different countries. In rich countries, it targets lower income strata. In the third world, it targets middle and upper middle class. You can get much cheaper local food (and probably more nutritious food) on the streets. Therefore, Macdonald's is relatively more expensive in poorer countries.

> In rich countries, it targets lower income strata. [citation needed]; anecdotal, I live in a rich country, a trip to McD's for a family of 3 quickly adds up to €25; home cooked dinner is I will acknowledge that the ability to cook food at home and having access to a supermarket that actually stocks fresh vegetables and the like is a rich country's privilege. That said, I gathered there's plenty of places in the US…

> I live in a rich country, a trip to McD's for a family of 3 quickly adds up to €25

That's pretty cheap for a rich country (i.e. the US or UK), especially when you consider the labor/time saved when you don't cook. Also, most people who fall in the lower income strata don't eat out every day, so $25/€25 for an occasional McDonalds meal for 3 is pretty achievable.

The upper middle class in rich countries easily pay 2-3 times that price per restaurant meal.

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#136

Post by mns » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:45 PM UTC

yokoprime wrote: post #89

detaro wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where in Europe is McDonalds a "hipster place"?

Apparently "central europe". In western and northern europe its certainly not a hipster placer.

McDonalds is not even a hipster place in Eastern Europe, it's just the most popular fast food chain, but that's about it.

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#137

Post by larkost » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:49 PM UTC

eertami wrote: post #52

intrasight wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't choose "burgers" - they choose something that's largely the same across the world. A Big Mac was what they choose. It's certainly not intended as a policy tool or a pay adjustment tool. But it is an interesting metric non the less.

I think the biggest flaw is that the Big Mac you are served in Switzerland is not really the same Big Mac you are served in the US. It's a cute form of comparison but indeed should not be used as a policy tool.

It really is. I happened to stay for a week in the house of the man who owned the company that (at that time) provided all of the cheese for McDonalds in all of Europe, except Russia. His plants were subject to lots of random inspections where they would not only taste-test the cheese, but chemically and mechanically examine it to ensure that it was the same as was being produced in the rest of the world.

I think that the confusion might be that McDonalds has a lot of "local" menu items that you can only find in those countries (e.g.: beer in Germany, wine in France). Those items are very different, but the "core" items, like the Bic Mac in question, are very much the same across the world.

I should note that there are a few cheats to this. For example what is called the Quarter Pounder in the U.S. is slightly tweaked in Europe, and I think that is usually called something like "Hamburger Royale", so there is that. But that could go either way depending on how you see it.

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#138

Post by pessimizer » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #92

forinti wrote: post #86

One caveat about this index is that is does not consider the fact that Macdonald's has different types of customers in different countries. In rich countries, it targets lower income strata. In the third world, it targets middle and upper middle class. You can get much cheaper local food (and probably more nutritious food) on the streets. Therefore, Macdonald's is relatively more expensive in poorer countries.

> In rich countries, it targets lower income strata. [citation needed]; anecdotal, I live in a rich country, a trip to McD's for a family of 3 quickly adds up to €25; home cooked dinner is I will acknowledge that the ability to cook food at home and having access to a supermarket that actually stocks fresh vegetables and the like is a rich country's privilege. That said, I gathered there's plenty of places in the US…

The comparison was to street/fast food, not home-cooked food; food with a labor cost. It's easy to make a great meal for a third of what street food costs, anywhere, if you're willing to list and shop for ingredients, keep track of what you have used and what you need to use quickly before it goes bad, spend 30-45 mins cooking it and another 15 mins washing dishes.

A lot of people make more money at jobs, or simply don't have the time left in the day to make that a good deal.

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#139

Post by seanmcdirmid » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:55 PM UTC

stonemetal12 wrote: post #106

legitster wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The minimum wage one is next to useless. States and cities set their own minimum wages. Unemployed people or people on fixed income have wages of 0. This chart doesn't really describe any meaningful set of the population or how they are doing.

About 20 states have their minimum wage at the federal minimum wage. So the federal minimum does have a major impact on the actual minimum. I agree about the other part though.

> About 20 states have their minimum wage at the federal minimum wage.

Minimum wage in those states is increasingly meaningless as almost no one will work for that wage. The longer the minimum wage isn't updated, the more irrelevant it is.

Seattle has a higher minimum wage now of $14.50, but it is also mostly meaningless at this point. Conservatives used to propose $20 minimum wages as slippery slope straw men, but these days that proposed wage wouldn't be considered a straw man at all.

Re: The Big Mac index: Our interactive currency comparison tool

#140

Post by seanmcdirmid » Fri, Feb 04, 2022, 5:59 PM UTC

arcticbull wrote: post #112

fouc wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This chart seems to be misleading, especially when we know that purchasing power was higher back then. It was far easier to buy a house with the income back then too.

House prices are a zoning issue primarily. [1] In major metros, city councils prevented construction - as such supply could not meet demand and the price of housing in cities went up dramatically more than inflation. Outside major metros, minimum setback rules, minimum size rules, and myriad other policies conspired to make the average new house twice as large as they were before, while families on average shrunk. Th…

Zoning existed in the 1970s also.

> Outside major metros, minimum setback rules, minimum size rules, and myriad other policies conspired to make the average new house twice as large as they were before, while families on average shrunk.

Outside major metros, the economy isn't as hot and demand is tapered back significantly. In cities that have poor economies, housing prices are also cheap. In places that are extremely dense (NYC) with hot economies, housing is still expensive. All I can tell from this is "popularity = high prices", it isn't clear that you could build enough housing to satisfy demand in a hot economy because more people might make the economy even hotter (attracting even more people).