Tokyo Tops 'Big Mac' Survey

(AP)  Residents of Tokyo have the highest purchasing power in the world, edging out people in Los Angeles, Sydney, London and Toronto, according to a new survey by the Swiss banking giant UBS that uses the "Big Mac" as its benchmark.

Tokyo scored at the top of the survey, which aims to eliminate variables such as exchange rates, even though it is one of the most expensive cities in the world, UBS said in the "Prices and Earnings" report released Wednesday.

"Wages only become meaningful in relation to prices — that is, what can be bought with the money earned," it said.

The bank calculated the "weighted net hourly wage in 14 professions" and divided it into the local price of "a globally available product," for which it chose McDonald's flagship hamburger.

"On a global average, 35 minutes of work buys a Big Mac," it said. "But the disparities are huge: In Nairobi, 1½ hours' work is needed to buy the burger with the net hourly wage there. In the U.S. cities of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami, a maximum of 13 minutes' labor is needed."

In Tokyo, it takes a mere 10 minutes. Bogota, Colombia, came in last among the 70 cities surveyed at 97 minutes.

The UBS survey, conducted every three years, rated Oslo, Norway, as the most expensive city based on the cost of a basket of 122 goods and services, excluding rent. It was followed by London; Copenhagen, Denmark; Zurich, Switzerland; Tokyo; Geneva; New York; Dublin, Ireland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Helsinki, Finland.

The least expensive cities were Manila, Philippines; Delhi; Buenos Aires; Bombay and Kuala Lumpur.

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[funkstuffs]

Too bad it was just used as an measuring device, get off the McDonalds bashing. Who really cares?
You know I'm proud of McDonalds for if nothing else, keeping Natural selection in motion.

Have you ever had a Japanese Big Mac?
They have better quality over there.
It really makes me feel sorry for America.

But back to the main topic of this story, what is the secret sauce?

[alphaa10-2009]

Yes, and using a Big Mac as an international unit of purchasing power(wealth) carries its own penalty-- for every Big Mac consumed there is a corresponding reduction in health and increased risk of cardiac and other problems. This, in turn, directly affects GNP through health expenditures and lost productivity. In effect. the Big Mac index disturbs the very phenomenon it measures.