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How many minutes of work does it take a McDonald's employee to buy a Big Mac?

If you're in the U.S. 27. If you're in China, 85. If you're in India, 195. A Princeton University economist trying to compare wages worldwide took the pay rate in various countries and divided it by a product. From Real Time Economics:

Orley C. Ashenfelter of Princeton University found an excellent example using McDonald's employees. In his paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Ashenfelter notes that McDonald's workers across the globe by design are asked to perform the same tasks to build the same product: a Big Mac. By calculating how many hours of work it takes an employee to earn enough to afford a Big Mac, he can show how wages change across countries.

bigmac.JPG


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