The Big Mac Index Two Decades on: An Evaluation of Burgernomics
95 Pages Posted: 9 Jan 2008 Last revised: 15 Jul 2010
Date Written: July 9, 2010
Abstract
The Big Mac Index, introduced by The Economist magazine more than two decades ago, claims to provide the "true value" of a large number of currencies. This paper assesses the economic value of this index. We show that (i) the index suffers from a substantial bias; (ii) once the bias is allowed for, the index tracks exchange rates reasonably well over the medium to longer term in accordance with relative purchasing power parity theory; (iii) the index is at least as good as the industry standard, the random walk model, in predicting future currency values for all but short-term horizons; (iv) future nominal exchange rates are more responsive than prices to currency mispricing. While not perfect, at a cost of less than $US10 per year, the index seems to provide good value for money.
Keywords: Burgernomics, Purchasing Power Parity, Currency Forecast
JEL Classification: F30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
By Charles M. Engel and John H. Rogers
-
Perspectives on PPP and Long-Run Real Exchange Rates
By Kenneth Froot and Kenneth Rogoff
-
A Panel Project on Purchasing Power Parity: Mean Reversion within and between Countries
-
Purchasing Power Parity in the Long Run
By Niso Abuaf and Philippe Jorion
-
Convergence to the Law of One Price Without Trade Barriers or Currency Fluctuations
By David C. Parsley and Shang-jin Wei
-
Explaining the Border Effect: The Role of Exchange Rate Variability, Shipping Costs, and Geography
By David C. Parsley and Shang-jin Wei