Big Mac index

　　Bun fight

　　Why China needs more expensive burgers

　　Oct 15th 2010

　　A WEAK currency, despite its appeal to exporters and politicians, is no free lunch. But it can provide a cheap one. In China a McDonald's Big Mac costs just 14.5 yuan on average in Beijing and Shenzhen, the equivalent of $2.18 at market exchange rates. In America the same burger averages $3.71. That makes China's yuan one of the most undervalued currencies in our Big Mac index, which is based on the idea of purchasing-power parity. This says that a currency's price should reflect the amount of goods and services it can buy. Since 14.5 yuan can buy as much burger as $3.71, a yuan should be worth $0.26 on the foreign-exchange market. At just $0.15, it is undervalued by about 40%. The tensions caused by currency misalignments prompted Brazil's finance minister to complain last month that his country was a potential casualty of a “currency war”. The Swiss, who avoid most wars, are in the thick of this one. Their franc is the most expensive currency on our list.

　　參考譯文：

　　盡管弱勢貨幣對于出口商和政府來說是好事，但這并不是免費的午餐。不過倒是可以提供一份便宜的午餐。在中國，一個麥當(dāng)勞巨無霸在北京和深圳的平均價格為14.5元人民幣，按市場匯率相當(dāng)于2.18美元。在美國，同樣的漢堡平均售價是3.71美元。按照以購買力平價指標(biāo)為基礎(chǔ)的巨無霸指數(shù)來看，人民幣被低估了不少。根據(jù)巨無霸指數(shù)理論，貨幣的價格應(yīng)該反映其可以購買的商品和服務(wù)的數(shù)量。既然14.5元人民幣可以購買相當(dāng)于美國3.71美元的漢堡，1元人民幣應(yīng)該在外匯市場上等值于0.26美元。但實際僅為0.15美元，即人民幣被低估了大約40%。由于貨幣失調(diào)導(dǎo)致的緊張氣氛，使得巴西財長上個月抱怨說，該國成為了“貨幣戰(zhàn)爭”的潛在受害者。瑞士雖然(作為中立國)避開了大部分戰(zhàn)爭，卻避不開這場貨幣戰(zhàn)爭。瑞士法郎在我們這張列表中是被高估得最多的貨幣。

　　小編選注：

　　The Big Mac Index is published by The Economist as an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries. It "seeks to make exchange-rate theory a bit more digestible".

　　The Big Mac PPP exchange rate between two countries is obtained by dividingthe price of a Big Mac in one country (in its currency) by the price of a Big Mac in another country (in its currency). This value is then compared with the actual exchange rate; if it is lower, then the first currency is under-valued (according to PPP theory) compared with the second, and conversely, if it is higher, then the first currency is over-valued.

　　兩國的“巨無霸指數(shù)”計算法，是以一個國家的巨無霸以當(dāng)?shù)刎泿诺膬r格，除以另一個國家的巨無霸以當(dāng)?shù)刎泿诺膬r格。該商數(shù)用來跟實際的匯率比較;要是商數(shù)比匯率為低，就表示第一國貨幣的匯價被低估了(根據(jù)購買力平價理論);相反，要是商數(shù)比匯率為高，則第一國貨幣的匯價被高估了。

　　舉例而言，假設(shè)一個巨無霸在美國的售價為$2.50，在英國的售價為 £2.00;購買力平價匯率就是2.50 ÷2.00 = 1.25。如果當(dāng)時匯率為£1 = $1.82，則表示以兩國巨無霸的售價而言，英鎊兌美元的匯價被高估了45.6%((1.82-1.25)÷1.25×%)。

　　批評者認為，巨無霸漢堡包指數(shù)忽略了不同國家的稅收、利潤水平和原材料價格等因素的影響。

　　Purchasing power parity (PPP) is a theory of long-term equilibriumexchange rates based on relative price levels of two countries. The idea originated with the School of Salamanca in the 16th century and was developed in its modern form by Gustav Cassel in 1918. The concept is founded on the law of one price; the idea that in absence of transaction costs, identical goods will have the same price in different markets.

　　購買力平價(Purchasing Power Parity，簡稱PPP)，又稱相對購買力指標(biāo)，是一種根據(jù)各國不同的價格水平計算出來的貨幣之間的等值系數(shù)，使我們能夠在經(jīng)濟學(xué)上對各國的國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值進行合理比較，這種理論匯率與實際匯率可能有很大的差距。

　　該理論指出，在對外貿(mào)易平衡的情況下，兩國之間的匯率將會趨向于靠攏購買力平價。一般來講，這個指標(biāo)要根據(jù)相對于經(jīng)濟的重要性考察許多貨物價格才能得出。