Topic > Bic Mac Index - 1248

In September 1986, the Economist launched an index of Big Mac prices around the world. Initially the idea was a kind of joke to make fun of Index publications. The joke turned serious and as a result the Big Mac Index is still going strong to this day. The index apparently is a great tool for measuring purchasing power parity, otherwise known as PPP. What can the Big Mac Index do for you? The index is used as a method to predict exchange rate movements. Why? Because the rate between two currencies should naturally adjust so that the Big Mac costs the same both in US dollars and in whatever currency we compare it to. The Big Mac was chosen because the burger is pretty much the same wherever you go, and more importantly, you can buy the same tasty Big Mac almost anywhere in the world. It's also much easier to compare a Big Mac than a Quarter Pounder to cheese, for example, because according to Pulp Fiction we would have to change the name to "Royal with Cheese" if we were in France. So basically, the Big Mac is the same burger, same name, and many locations around the world. For our article, we obtained the Big Mac PPP exchange rate between the US dollar and the Canadian dollar, the Japanese yen, the pound and the Singapore dollar. We first wanted to know what the exchange rate should be by taking the (current exchange rate)*(US dollars per hamburger / Local currency per hamburger). We then wanted to find out whether, according to our data, the currency is overvalued or undervalued. We got this information from (Exchange rate minus should be the rate)/(Should be the value of the equation above). If this percentage is positive, then we believe the currency is overvalued. If this currency is negative, then we believe it is undervalued. We expect to see currencies that we believe are undervalued according to the Big Mac Index appreciate against the dollar over the next few years. If the currency is overvalued, according to the Big Mac Index, we would expect to see it depreciate in the coming years. Through our data we have seen that the Canadian dollar has rebounded against the US dollar after its low value in 2002. the surface deemed almost perfect by the Big Mac index to explain the surge in the value of the Canadian dollar against the US dollar.