Big Mac Index in its 30th Year
Purchasing Power Parity
30 years ago, in 1986, the Big Mac index was introduced by Pam Woodall, a journalist for the British magazine "The Economist". Published once a year, it is still used as an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between currencies. It comes down to the question of what a currency is worth in real terms when people go out to purchase everyday goods. The Swiss franc stands tall. If you had 10 dollars in your pocket, it would suffice to buy two Big Macs. In Britain you could afford two and a half burgers.