- Joined
- Sep 7, 2016
I'm suspicious about that actually being true, because in some countries, a Big Mac is going to cost a lot more in terms of local currency because it and McDonald's in general is considered an exotic import of some sort. Or the country is protectionist. So a local item of comparable nutritional value might be much cheaper, whereas in the U.S. much of what McDonald's sells is literally subsidized by the government.
McDonalds have a heavy presence and is still viewed as the same trash in Norway as it is everywhere else, it's not more expensive than other places though so the index makes sense. It should be noted that the min. wage at McD was ~$17/hour over ten years ago and it was a McD salary, so not great. At that time a Big Mac meal cost ~$10-12 there, which was about the same as Burger King, those are cheap places with set prices. Independent shit shacks that puts corn on a cheeseburger could be more expensive and way up north a shitty burger and fries cost 15 bucks - 20 years ago. The identical Big Mac meal across the border was maybe ~$7.50, that includes BK's equivalent.
The purchasing power on a Norwegian salary is insane when it comes to imported goods, those costs roughly the same as in the rest of europe. With the exception of cars because there's a huge fee on those.
In places like Thailand and Vietnam western franchises like McD and Starbucks will keep close to western prices (probably) because they're catering to western tourists, so that's where the index falls apart.