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Big Mac からI podへ

相方が、おもしろいよと教えてくれた記事が、これ。

以下、SMHより。


How your iPod can show value of a dollar
Jessica Irvine
January 19, 2007

Big Mac からI podへ_a0074328_554083.jpg


IF SANTA brought you an iPod for Christmas he probably bought it in Canada.

A survey of 26 countries has found Canada is the cheapest place to buy the new iPod nano.

Measured in US dollar terms, Australia is the eighth cheapest.

And Santa did well to shop around. In Brazil a nano would have set the buyer back $US328 ($416) - the most expensive price uncovered by the survey and more than double the Canadian price.

The CommSec iPod index, set up to rival the Big Mac index of The Economist, has been established to uncover imbalances in global currencies in an effort to predict future movements.

The Big Mac index, established in 1986, does the same and has had surprising success in predicting currency movements.

Both indexes are based on the economic theory of purchasing power parity, which says that over the long term currencies will move to equalise the cost of an identical product in each country.

If an iPod or Big Mac is more expensive in Australia than the US, the Australian dollar is overvalued and should fall. Using the index, CommSec found the Australian dollar was overvalued by about 15 per cent against the greenback.

The Economist cautions users of its Big Mac index to take it with a grain of salt.

And Craig James, an economist with CommSec, admits there are complications with the iPod index, too. Unlike Big Macs, which are produced locally and reflect the local costs of wages, bread and meat, Apple's iPods are assembled in China.

The transport costs of getting them from China to different countries and taxes may distort their relative prices.


こうやって、Big Mac やI podで貨幣の価値を比較するという試みって、小難しい経済学の教科書を読むよりも、遊び心があるようで個人的には好きです。

そして、改めて、I podの人気のすごさ&普及率、中国のパワーを感じました。一つの商品が国境を渡って普及し、とりあえず、人件費の安い中国で作ってそれを世界中に出荷する、経済のグロバーリズム化の縮図だなと思いました。


そして、やっぱ、電化製品を買うんだったら、やっぱ、安い日本だな!!(笑)
by fooey | 2007-01-19 04:59


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