40 years ago, The Economist published something intended as a bit of fun.
It compared the price of a Big Mac around the world
to judge whether currencies are too cheap or too expensive.
Four decades later, the Big Mac Index is in textbooks,
cited by thousands of scholars, and it turns 40,
just as the world is once again worrying about exactly what it measures.
Currencies out of whack and historically high trade deficits and surpluses.
Is the world economy out of balance?
Welcome back to Insider.
I'm Edward Carr, The Economist's deputy editor.
And with me as ever is Zanny Minton Beddoes, our editor-in-chief.
Now Zanny, you're normally sitting in this chair and I'm over there,
but this time I'm asking the questions and I'm going to make the most of it.
This is one of your specialist areas when you're economics editor, you.
Yeah, way back when, but this is a nice position.
I think I'm going to stay.
It'd be good.
Then we have Josh Roberts here, our capital markets correspondent.
Welcome to you.
Henry Kerr, our present economics editor