In an interesting Thanksgiving blog post at the New York Times, Daniel Politi takes on a curious phenomenon: the surprisingly low price of Big Macs in Buenos Aires, at least compared to other McDonalds food, and their relative invisibility (they are barely advertised at all). At one McDonalds, he finds the Big Mac value meal for 21.90 pesos, compared to about double that for the Angus Bacon.

But why? Well, one interpretation is that in the land of statistics fakery, there is no data point too meaningless to tweak. To whit:

There is widespread speculation that the government is trying to influence The Economist’s famous Big Mac Index, a “lighthearted” guide that compares burger prices across the globe to determine whether a currency is under- or over-valued.

In other words, the government is supposedly leaning on McDonalds to keep the price of the Big Mac down so that Argentina's international Big Mac Index will look better. And in reaction, McDonalds tries not to advertise the Big Mac, as it doesn't want to lose money (or earn very little). Ah, the law of unintended consequences.

Time for a Big Mac!

Photo: NYTimes.com