

However, this theory can be criticised for ignoring shipping costs, which will vary depending on how far the product is delivered from its "single place" of manufacture in China. In 2007, an Australian bank tried a variation the Big Mac index, being an " iPod index": since the iPod is manufactured at a single place, the value of iPods should be more consistent globally. For example, in January 2004, it showed a Tall Latte index with the Big Mac replaced by a cup of Starbucks coffee. The Economist sometimes produces variants on the theme. As of April 2009, the Big Mac was trading in Germany at €2.99, which translates into US$3.96, which would imply that the euro was trading above the PPP, with the difference being 10.9%. The Eurozone is mixed, as prices differ widely in the EU area.

In the Big Mac Index, the basket in question is a single Big Mac burger as sold by the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain.

One suggested method of predicting exchange rate movements is that, according to the law of one price, the rate between two currencies should naturally adjust so that a sample basket of goods and services should cost the same in both currencies. The index also gave rise to the word burgernomics. The Big Mac index was introduced in The Economist in September 1986 by Pam Woodall as a semi-humorous illustration of PPP and has been published by that paper annually since then.
