Native Son By Bigger Essays - Misconduct, Crime, Criminology

Native Son By Bigger Native Son Essay In Native Son Bigger struggles against authority. The authority is the white people. Bigger wants to have the same power as blacks. In the movie? The Heat? Stephen Moore played by Sean Lewis is the main charectar or protagonist. The authority is the leader of a gang that Stephen feels he should be the leader of. Both protagonists become powerful in their minds after committing murders and both feel that they deserve more because of their struggles. When Bigger kills Mary and Bessie he feels like he has more powerful. In ? The Heat? Stephen is a 20 year old gang member who has been in the gang for under a year. Steel is the leader of the gang who has been a gang member for over ten years. Steel has a lot of power and connections on the street and in his gang. When Stephen kills three rival gang members he feels like he has more power and influence than Steel amongst his fellow gang members. There is tension in the movie between Stephen and Steel the gang leader as the other gang members talk about ?a change in the guard? in the gang. Stephen and Bigger have some things in common. Both live in the bad part of town, and both don't get along with their parents. But both live in very different times. Back then blacks weren't respected or accepted, But over the years things changed and now blacks are accepted in society. When both men commit murder they feel more powerful. Both want to become more powerful and feel that violence is the answer. And both murders are the most important thing that has ever happened to both bigger and Stephen. Steel is the authority in ? The Heat ? and the white society is the authority in ?Native Son? . Both have more power than the protagonists. The white society keep the blacks from being equal from them. Much like Steel does with the rest of the gang. For example, the whites make the blacks live in bad conditions while they live in nice houses with cars. Steel keeps the other gang members in line and doesn't let them become to powerful. For example, when a member of the gang stands up to Steel in front of the other guys he is shot and killed in front of them to set an example. During a run in with a rival gang Stephen murders three of the members he earns respect from the other gang members and has thoughts of taking over as leader. Stephen becomes more and more full of himself and gets the other guys to buy into his ideas of him taking over as leader of the gang. Once word gets to Steel about his plans, there is a confrontation between Steel and Stephan. There was a huge fight between them which led to the death of both men. In Native Son the outcome was similar with Bigger dying and paying for his crimes. And in both cases they become to full of them selves and end up dying. English Essays

Free Essays on El Hombre Y El Mito

EL HOMBRE Y EL MITOPOR R. A. FONT BERNARD Est prà ³ximo a cumplir noventa y seis aà ±os de edad, y desde hace veinte, est lamentablemente privado de la visià ³n. Desde 1978 a la fecha, ha declarado diecinueve veces que est enfermo. En el prrafo inicial de las "Memorias de un Cortesano de la Era de Trujillo", se declarà ³ al borde del sepulcro. Pero a la vez, como lo hubo de consignar en unos desgarradores versos, es "el dueà ±o de un mundo de cristal que no envejece". Y es, en las presentes circunstancias de nuestro paà ­s, el principal protagonista de una comedia polà ­tica, que eventualmente podrà ­a evolucionar hacia el drama.Paradà ³jicamente, sus deficiencias visuales las utilizà ³, exitosamente, como uno de los temas electorales. Y en la actualidad alude a ella, para demostrarle a sus opositores polà ­ticos, que su ceguera no es tragedia, y que actà ºa con absoluta normalidad, porque no sà ³lo conoce la matemtica del azar, sino adems, porque puede ver el rostro del mundo, y de las gentes que lo pueblan.Fue , segà ºn su propia confesià ³n, un cortesano de la dictadura de Trujillo, y como tal, en el ejercicio de la oratoria polà ­tica, uno de los ms sobresalientes apologistas de la dictadura. Pero en ese ejercicio, fue el à ºnico orador que seà ±alà ³ el carcter dictatorial del rà ©gimen, y el à ºnico en predecir que à ©ste no sobrepasarà ­a los treinta y dos aà ±os, ya prà ³ximo a caer el dictador en un charco de sangre.Como polà ­tico, dotado de un protagonismo impar en la presente etapa de devaneos democrticos, ha actuado y actà ºa, conforme a lo que don Josà © Ortega y Gasset entendà ­a que son las circunstancias. Pese a que no se le suele reconocer como un destinista, y à ©l se proclama como tal, actà ºa con la conviccià ³n de que en la actividad polà ­tica, tiene un decisivo predicamento lo posible y lo conveniente.Reconocer que sentà ­a satisfaccià ³n en el ejercicio del poder, es una realidad y no un reproche. Pero, contrario a Trujillo, y a... Free Essays on El Hombre Y El Mito Free Essays on El Hombre Y El Mito EL HOMBRE Y EL MITOPOR R. A. FONT BERNARD Est prà ³ximo a cumplir noventa y seis aà ±os de edad, y desde hace veinte, est lamentablemente privado de la visià ³n. Desde 1978 a la fecha, ha declarado diecinueve veces que est enfermo. En el prrafo inicial de las "Memorias de un Cortesano de la Era de Trujillo", se declarà ³ al borde del sepulcro. Pero a la vez, como lo hubo de consignar en unos desgarradores versos, es "el dueà ±o de un mundo de cristal que no envejece". Y es, en las presentes circunstancias de nuestro paà ­s, el principal protagonista de una comedia polà ­tica, que eventualmente podrà ­a evolucionar hacia el drama.Paradà ³jicamente, sus deficiencias visuales las utilizà ³, exitosamente, como uno de los temas electorales. Y en la actualidad alude a ella, para demostrarle a sus opositores polà ­ticos, que su ceguera no es tragedia, y que actà ºa con absoluta normalidad, porque no sà ³lo conoce la matemtica del azar, sino adems, porque puede ver el rostro del mundo, y de las gentes que lo pueblan.Fue , segà ºn su propia confesià ³n, un cortesano de la dictadura de Trujillo, y como tal, en el ejercicio de la oratoria polà ­tica, uno de los ms sobresalientes apologistas de la dictadura. Pero en ese ejercicio, fue el à ºnico orador que seà ±alà ³ el carcter dictatorial del rà ©gimen, y el à ºnico en predecir que à ©ste no sobrepasarà ­a los treinta y dos aà ±os, ya prà ³ximo a caer el dictador en un charco de sangre.Como polà ­tico, dotado de un protagonismo impar en la presente etapa de devaneos democrticos, ha actuado y actà ºa, conforme a lo que don Josà © Ortega y Gasset entendà ­a que son las circunstancias. Pese a que no se le suele reconocer como un destinista, y à ©l se proclama como tal, actà ºa con la conviccià ³n de que en la actividad polà ­tica, tiene un decisivo predicamento lo posible y lo conveniente.Reconocer que sentà ­a satisfaccià ³n en el ejercicio del poder, es una realidad y no un reproche. Pero, contrario a Trujillo, y a...

Grounded Theory -- Definition and Overview in Sociology

Grounded Theory Definition and Overview in Sociology Grounded theory is a research methodology that results in the production of a theory that explains patterns in data, and that predicts what social scientists might expect to find in similar data sets. When practicing this popular social science method, a researcher begins with a set of data, either quantitative or qualitative, then identifies patterns, trends, and relationships among the data. Based on these, the researcher constructs a theory that is grounded in the data itself. This research method differs from the traditional approach to science, which begins with a theory and the seeks to test it through the scientific method. As such, grounded theory can be described as an inductive method, or a form of inductive reasoning. Sociologists  Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss popularized this method in the 1960s, which they and many others considered an antidote to the popularity of deductive theory, which is often speculative in nature, seemingly disconnected from the realities of social life, and may, in fact, go untested. In contrast, the grounded theory method produces a theory that is based on scientific research. (To learn more, see Glaser and Strausss 1967 book,  The Discovery of Grounded Theory.) Grounded Theory Grounded theory allows researchers to be scientific and creative at the same time, as long as the researchers follow these guidelines: Periodically step back and ask questions.  The researcher needs to step back once in a while and ask the following questions: What is going on here? Does what I think I see fit the reality of the data? Data does not lie, so the researcher needs to make sure their own ideas about what is happening matches what the data is telling them, or the researcher may need to alter their idea of what is going on.Maintain an attitude of skepticism.  All theoretical explanations, hypotheses, and questions about the data should be regarded as preliminary, whether they come from the literature, experience, or making comparisons. They should always be checked out against the data and never accepted as fact.Follow the research procedures.  Research procedures (data collection, analysis, etc.) are designed to give precision and accuracy to a study. They also help the researcher break through biases and lead him or her to examine some of his or her assumptions that might otherwise be unrealistic. Therefore, it is important that the correct research procedures are followed so that an accurate conclusion is reached. With these principles in mind, a researcher can construct a grounded theory in eight basic steps. Pick a research area, topic, or population of interest, and form one or more research questions about it.Collect data using a scientific method.Look for patterns, themes, trends, and relationships among the data in a process called open coding.Begin to construct your theory by writing theoretical memos about the codes that emerge from your data, and the relationships among codes.Based on what you have discovered so far, focus on the most relevant codes and review your data with them in mind in a process of selective coding. Conduct more research to gather more data for the selected codes as needed.Review and organize your memos to allow the data and your observations of them to shape an emergent theory.Review related theories and research and figure out how your new theory fits within it.Write your theory and publish it. Updated  by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

Early Formation of Our Government The United States of America Essay

Early Formation of Our Government The United States of America - Essay Example The other was the belief in covenants. Puritans believed that covenants existed not only between God and man, but also between man and man. The Pilgrims had used covenants in establishing their congregations in the Old World. The Mayflower Compact is such a covenant in that the settlers agreed to form a government and be bound by its rules. X: A new tax was imposed on all the American colonists in 1765, which is known as the stamp act. This act states that all the American colonists should pay a tax on every piece of printed paper. The reason of the tax is to defend and protect the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains, where 10, 000 troops were stationed to accomplish the task. "The actual cost of the Stamp Act was relatively small. What made the law so offensive to the colonists was not so much its immediate cost but the standard it seemed to set. In the past, taxes and duties on colonial trade had always been viewed as measures to regulate commerce, not to raise money". X: Yep, July 4, 1776 was the day when the unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America was passed. It is also considered the Independence day of America. The struggle which was started in the start of the eighteenth century was come to the end at a positive note. In a nutshell, Americans did a lot to get the independence from the colonists, who were not loyal to the people of North

Applied managment & theory - xerox case study Assignment

Applied managment & theory - xerox case study - Assignment Example In order to analyse the change of management in Xerox, it is necessary to adopt many management theories to analyse friction by friction. PEST analysis, comprising of Political, Economical, sociocultural and technological factors, according to which the marketing environment is made up of three aspects, internal environment, micro environment, macro environment etc. The internal environment consists of staff that is also called internal customers, office technology, wages and finance etc. Micro environment is external customers, agents and distributors, suppliers, out competitors etc. Macro environment consists of Political and legal forces, economic forces, sociocultural forces and technological forces etc. PEST is concerned only with the Macro Environment, which is concerned with the production of the company. "The first is efficiency in the production of a given set of outputs. That is, with a given capital stock a given technology and a given set of resource prices, firms should be producing goods and services with a minimum expenditure of the economy's resources," (Cyert, 1988, p.36). Xerox had to overcome many problems while going through Change Management. It could not compete with the Japanese competitors because of high manufacturing cost. Internal culture and leadership suffered due to mindsets bordering towards complacent inertia. But later, leadership went through an immense transformation that led to the present enviable state of the company. It improved the quality of its products and the organisation turned the corner. In 1990s, Xerox introduced digital photocopiers, high-end laser printers with attached scanners and these products made Xerox march ahead of its competitors in this mercurial field. "Xerox worked to turn its product into a service, providing a complete "document service" to companies including supply, maintenance, configuration and user support." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox Xerox created excellent name for itself in the employment front as well. Company received 100% rating on the first Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign in 2002. "They have maintained this rating in 2003, 2004, 2005. Xerox has been recognized by a number of other organizations for its diversity leadership as well." Ibid. As far as the political factors are concerned, the political scenario has a very large influence on business. It depends on the stability of the political environment, how could the tax regulation going to affect the company, what could be the Government's stand in marketing ethics, government's economic and industrial policy etc. It also depends on its religious or secular policies and if they are religion oriented enough to disturb other cultures or if there are any regional or international agreements and compulsions. Xerox did not face many problems due to political problems in home country, but it must have faced problems in other countries like Asian Specific countries, and to some extent, in India. "But, according to a recent article (Cordtz, 1974, "Xerox is moving into an awkward agethe company resembles a muscular adolescent who has grown so fast that he finds it difficult to coordinate his newly acquired strength" (page 117)" (Burke, 1977, p.22). In economic factors deal with market trends, economic predictions, theories of long and short term both, international market trend, any upcoming national and

The Importance Of Service Quality In Tesco Marketing Essay

The Importance Of Service Quality In Tesco Marketing Essay This is about to finding out the importance of service quality, how people give importance and also how this service quality helped the Tesco to wash out the other retail firms even they are equal in size ,market share etc. While purchasing a product the consumer will consider many factors for selecting a retail outlet. Price ,service ,range of products, etc are the promenate ones among them out of this, quality of service plays a vital role the best example for this is the success behind the grocery giant Tesco . Therefore the need and scope of the study is to examine the importance given to the service quality by consumers while selecting retail. Service characteristics: many may have their own presumption regarding the service. It is basically intangible, inseparable, heterogeneity and pershhability. The first one is like people will feel they cannot see. The next state that goods can be purchased but service cannot be purchased like this service facilitates to buy a product. Inseparability is the performance or quality achieved on produced and consumed at the same time. The other one explains that the service quality cannot be determined exactly, it is hard to structure and the last characteristic of this service quality is as this service cannot be stored and provided it should reach the customers in effective manner. (Davies and Ward., P. 282.283, 285).In 1960s and 1970 the price factor was dominating the retailers and their competitor. They were concentrating more on pricing the products, higher margins etc. in 1980s retailers started working more on non price activities like customer satisfaction .service quality etc. t hese factors gave them competitive advantage. They separately worked on customer service strategies developed along with merchandising strategy to process the consumer in search, delivery, store selection process etc this all to retain the customer loyal to the store and makes them come often for the purchase and making the customer consider that their tore as first choice store. If the retailer wants to make good business he has to work on service quality, he has to work on the ways of giving the best service to the customers. (Cook and Wartlers, P.157, 159) Food enterprises started implement this quality control because customers knew the importance of health. So retailers were in stress to use it in order to extend their market growth and also to provide safety food. Small food enterprises have forced to implement because even suppliers started to demand the quality certificate. So small enterprises are forced to get this one this helped them to them compete with competitors. (Husband and Mandal, 1999 and Rodrà ¬nges-Escobar et al., 2006). This Cleary states the importance of quality and a service required by the customers and also tells how people preference has improved. (http/:www.Sundirect.com Copyright  © 2008) There should be a proper sale promotion than only it is meaningful to proper sales will be there or else people will not know about the store, this increase the sale. Like some techniques followed in like stop and shop even customer who not have any idea of getting into the store should be encouraged to do some shopping in the store like if some customer coming to shop should motivate him to buy something and buy bigger this is suggesting the buyer to buy more products in order to give him some offers for e.g. mega mart in India. The importance of this promotion activity makes the store well reputed, selling more goods making the customers comfortable by getting the things they need. for e.g. some goods may be in upper shelf they find hard to get that product there should be some representative to help them.(Pardhan ., p.171) there are lot losses in retail sector only few are able to make profit but also there are lot of difference with these stores many people had research like pric ing, products avialabtiy etc. There are various stores available now lot of oppurnities for people to choose the shops. Generally price and service are the e factors which attract the customer even all store people can reduce the price to certain level but all stores cannot provide the same service quality of another. So basically comparison starts with price and services at present they are able to give the price but not service. In 170s there were big competition between four stores Tesco, sains bury, and asda and kwik save these were making good profit in these periods. These gaining more on 1970-80 not because of own brands but through loyalty. They sold only good products as a result these all stores got well established Tesco 7.2 8.6 8.3 12.0 13.6 Sains bury 6.1 7.02 7.7 11.5 11.9 asda 1.5 2.5 11.5 5.5 7.3 international 3.2 3.0 5.5 4.0 5.2 Fine fare 4.8 4.2 4.0 4.2 5.0 Kwik save 0.3 0.6 1.4 4.0 4.9 Allied supplier 7.9 7.0 5.7 5.0 4.8 . As this table shows the constant growth of the stores like tesco, sains burys, asda and international this growth is because of their prices and service rendered by the store. In consequent years Tesco ranked as 3 from 5 having turnover around  £ 953 million. All other stores are also improving but not like Tesco. (Retail structure pg no: 101, 2nd edition) even there is lot of fluctuatations in growth because of services rendered by the stores. There are variety of competitors there they all compete with Tesco. Tesco shows it s growth only because of various fore thinking strategies. (Akerurst and Alexander., P. 106,) From all the reference we can say that Tesco is steadily growing up with various strategies but it concentrates more on service qualities. Tesco is one of the important stores in British retailing. It sells at low price and also very excellent its service as according to the customer needs it changes the business. Even it has many competitions with equal potential it survive as the first in its performance. (Ferine and Sparks.,, P. 101) Retail environment is turning rapidly, customers wants are changing and also expectations also increased, so retailers find difficult to satisfy the customers changing needs which cannot be retained by price reduction, discounts offers etc. This can be achieved by quality of service given to the customer .for e.g. appropriate space for car parking, enough space for people to shop inside the store etc. for e.g. Tesco which has a great place for car park big place to shop so people find easy to go there and also care taken in stores with public this all services make the store successful. (http://www.springerlink.com/content/230784q16g50121x/) PROBLEM DEFINITION: The main focus of this grocery store is to retain the customer its not like fashion store or footwear store for e.g. if we buy a shirt will use that for certain months or year as similar for shoe and slippers but for grocery it is totally different we will not use the products will consume it so repeated purchases will take within certain time. Grocery is totally different aspect there will be repeated purchases in this segment, because we will not use but we will consume grocery products. Main motivate of grocery retailer is to retain the consumers, which is very essential now a day consumers expectations are more, the need for service is increasing. Therefore the purpose of the study is about service quality because his makes the consumer to retain with the store. The study is about service quality which is also key contribution for the success of Tesco. Objectives of the study: Analyzing the customer satisfaction on the quality of service rendered by Tesco. How Tesco was able to succeed its rivals. What others retailers lack in their service quality. RESEARCH DESIGN: Research design is an arrangement of terms for the collection and verifying the information for a research study, which will clearly states the purpose and need of the research like (for whom ? why ?) .(Saunders ,Lewies , Thornhill .,P., P.153) TYPE OF INVESTIGATION: The research design is Descriptive in nature because; I will be having a clear idea about the person by the answers given by him. Descriptive study is nothing but showing the accurate profile of the person. (Saunders, Lewies, Thornhill., P. 134) SAMPLING DESIGN: Non-Probability sampling is that sampling procedure which does not afford any basis for estimating the probability that each item in population has being included in the sample. The sampling procedure for the study is non-probability sampling. I am also dont know the correct population, so I define my design as non probability design (Research methods pg no: 207,208,226).the technique used in research is simple random technique it can be used with the undefined population. We can select the results in simple random sampling because these are hard to get correct answers and also my research is also very similar because very large customer so I have taken simple random sampling technique. (Saunders, Lewies, Thorn hill., P. 219) Primary data is the data collected directly from the sample. The primary data will be collected through personal interviews and questionnaires from the consumers who all coming to Tesco. Secondary data are those, which have been already gathered by others. The secondary data was collected from books, company profile, project reports, journals and websites. DATA COLLECTION METHOD: Data collection method should be very appropriate when we decide the method we have to think it in various aspects because we have to yield the good interview. So we have to plan in effective manner. The instrument used for research is a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire will be collected through schedule. A schedule consists of a list of a projects terminal element with intended start and finish dates. Respondents were contacted personally and were questionnaire is collected using schedule. (Saunders, Lewies, Thorn hill, P. 152) CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY: From all my reference I am able to understand the importance of service qualities and how it induce the organization it is very important reason for success of Tesco and also because of this lack of service quality many organization lost its market. So all employee in an organization should concentrate on service quality they have to work toward the satisfying customers and retaining them with the organization and also there should be proper motivation given to the employee to give the core benefits to the customers there should be more convenience for eg.24hours opened and 24 ATM insurances car insurances etc these are the services to be rendered.

Ppi and the Big Mac Index

Estimating the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) of currencies using the Big Mac Indexâ„ ¢ Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Purchasing Power Parity and Theory of one Price 3. Over/Under Valuation of currencies against the Dollar 5. Comparative analysis of the most overvalued to the most undervalued 6. Observation and Alternative indexes 7. Limitations 8. Appendix INTRODUCTION Purchasing power parity (PPP) is an important and critical topic in international economics. It arises when the purchasing power of an amount of money is the same in different countries. This is when prices of two different countries are converted to a common currency. The idea is based on the law of one price, where in the absence of official trade restrictions, similar goods will have the same price in different markets, with the prices being expressed in the same (common) currency. Deviations from parity infer differences in purchasing power of goods across countries, which means that for the purposes of many international comparisons, countries' GDPs or other national income statistics need to be â€Å"PPP adjusted† and converted into common units. There can be a huge difference when adjusted by purchasing power and when converted via market exchange rates. For ex:- If calculated at nominal exchange rates, India has the tenth largest economy while adjusting by PPP, India has the fourth largest economy. Thus, to remove this discrepancy, a common currency of measurement is highly essential. The Big Mac Index is an example of a measure of law of one price. It refers to the prices of a Big Mac burger in McDonald's restaurants in different countries. It helps in determining whether a currency is undervalued or overvalued and thus accordingly gives an idea about the direction in which currencies should move. The Big Mac was selected because it is available for a common purpose in many countries around the world as local McDonald's franchisees have significant responsibility for converting input prices(at least in theory). The Big Mac Index is useful because it is based on a very well-known food item whose final price can be easily tracked in many countries. PPP and the Theory of One Price The One-Price Theory The theory of PPP and One price go hand in hand. It is imperative to understand the implication of â€Å"One Price† to understand the Purchase Power Parity as it is based on that. The Law of One Price proposes that if a gadget costs $2 in USA and the same gadget costs Rs 5 in India , then the exchange rate should be 2/5 = 0. 40 for the real prices to be same in both the countries. Let us denote it empirically as Price of a good in one country A be X and Price of the same good in some other country B is X* , then equalization of both the prices can be done using exchange rate denoted by the formula Exchange Rate = X/X* Suppose in the above example where the exchange rate is calculated to be 0. 4, increases to 0. 6, and then the same gadget would cost Rs 8. 33 in India. This would result in the inflow of gadgets to India from USA causing increase in the demand of dollars and increase in supply of Rupees. Law of One Price (LoOP) It states that identical goods should sell at same price in two different markets when there are no transportation costs and no differential taxes applied in two markets One Price Theory and PPP While this concept of one –price here in the example is being applied to one commodity, it can be applied universally to all other commodities in market as well. The Big Mac burger is one of the brightest examples of the application of One-Price to a commodity. It looks at the price of a big Mac burger across different countries. This way Purchase Power Parity applies not just to a single commodity but on general price level. This way we can universally derive a relation of One-Price theory and Purchase Power Parity. The Big Mac was created by Jim Delligatti in the year 1967 and introduced throughout the US in 1968. The Big Mac is now available in around 120 countries around the world and its composition is generally the same throughout – two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Since beef is not consumed in India, a special Mac known as the â€Å"Maharaja Mac† can be found with chicken patties replacing beef patties. In Islamic countries the Big Mac is made with Halal beef and in Israel it is made with Kosher beef. The price of a Big Mac in US is calculated by the average of 4 cities – Atlanta, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. The price of Big Mac in Euro area is calculated by the weighted average of prices in Euro area. The Big Mac considered in India is the Maharaja Mac. Country| Big Mac Price| Implied PPP rate +| Today's| Over(+) / Under(-) Valuation against the USD, % ++| | | | Exchange Rate| | in Local Currency| in US dollars| | 1 USD =| | US| $ 4. 07| 4. 07| —| 1| —| Argentina| Peso 20. 0| 4. 4153463| 4. 92| 4. 530| 8. 6175| Australia| A$ 4. 56| 4. 6373416| 1. 12| 0. 983| 13. 8996| Brazil| Real 9. 50| 5. 2511951| 2. 34| 1. 809| 29. 3452| Britain| ? 2. 39| 3. 7447139| 0. 59| 0. 638| -7. 5573| Canada| C$ 4. 73| 4. 6363004 | 1. 16| 1. 020| 13. 7021| Chile| Peso 1850| 3. 6281104| 455| 509. 907| -10. 7681| China| Yuan 14. 7| 2. 3129209| 3. 6| 6. 356| -43. 3570| Colombia| Peso 8400| 4. 326| 2066| 1941. 748| 6. 3990| Czech Republic| Koruna 69. 3| 3. 6412205| 17. 1| 19. 32| -10. 1517| Denmark| DK 28. 5| 5. 1401734| 7. 01| 5. 545| 26. 4302| Egypt| Pound 14. 1| 2. 3477628| 3. 47| 6. 006| -42. 2217| Euro area| Euro 3. 44| 4. 6013727| 1. 18| 0. 748| 57. 8378| Hong Kong| HK$ 15. 1| 1. 9404672| 3. 71| 7. 782| -52. 3236| Hungary| Forint 760| 3. 3439474| 187| 227. 276| -17. 7213| India| Rupee 84. 0| 1. 6163756| 20. 7| 51. 968| -60. 1679| Indonesia| Rupiah 22534| 2. 501274| 5543| 9009. 009| -38. 4727| Israel| Shekel 15. 9| 4. 2277811| 3. 91| 3. 761| 3. 9662| Japan| ? 320| 4. 1212269| 78. 7| 77. 647| 1. 3564| Malaysia| Ringgit 7. 20| 2. 2981176| 1. 7| 3. 133| -43. 5046| Mexico| Peso 32. 0| 2. 3459637| 7. 87| 13. 640| -42. 3040| New Zealand| NZ$ 5. 10| 3. 9382574| 1. 25| 1. 295| -3. 4741| Norway| Kroner 45. 0| 7. 832 1279| 11. 1| 5. 746| 93. 1925| Pakistan| Rupee 205| 2. 3019159| 50. 5| 89. 056| -43. 2943| Peru| New Sol 10| 3. 7022146| 2. 46| 2. 701| -8. 9255| Philippines| Peso 118| 2. 7064108| 29| 43. 600| -33. 4865| Poland| Zloty 8. 63| 2. 5572242| 2. 12| 3. 375| -37. 1806| Russia| Rouble 75. 0| 2. 3810975| 18. 5| 31. 498| -41. 2663| Saudi Arabia| Riyal 10. 0| 2. 6661761| 2. 46| 3. 751| -34. 4121| Singapore| S$ 4. 1| 3. 4060498| 1. 08| 1. 295| -16. 5865| South Africa| Rand 19. 45| 2. 3850647| 4. 78| 8. 155| -41. 3850| South Korea| Won 3700| 3. 2782| 910| 1128. 668| -19. 3740| Sweden| SKr 48. 4| 7. 1816695| 11. 9| 6. 739| 76. 5741| Switzerland| SFr 6. 5| 7. 036772| 1. 6| 0. 924| 73. 2128| Taiwan| NT$ 75. 0| 2. 4825847| 18. 5| 30. 210| -38. 7629| Thailand| Baht 70. 0| 2. 2628537| 17. 2| 30. 934| -44. 3985| Turkey| Lire 6. 5| 3. 5532705| 1. 6| 1. 829| -12. 5349| + The Purchasing Power Parity or the PPP rate is the price of Big Mac in local currency divided by the price in the US. Price of Big Mac (and corresponding implied PPP rates from The Economist and is the latest). ++ The Over/Under valuation against the dollar is calculated using Exchangerate’s latest rates ( i. e as of 09/12/2011): 100 x ( P P P – Exchange Rate) / Exchange Rate (Source http://www. exchangerate. com/) OBSERVATION The most overvalued of currencies is the European Nordic countries’ currencies and most undervalued is the Indian Rupee. At market exchange rates, the Burger is 60% cheaper in India than in US. In other words, the Indian rupee is 60% undervalued against the dollar. However it should be noted that cheap burgers in India don’t mean that the Indian rupee is highly undervalued. Average prices should be lower in poor countries than in rich ones because labor costs are lower. The chart in the Appendix A shows a strong positive relationship between the dollar price of a Big Mac and GDP per person. Purchasing Power Parity is actually an indicator where exchange rates should move in the long run. For estimating the current fair value of a currency, a best fit line is drawn between Big Mac prices and GDP per person. The price thus predicted after the best fit line is drawn is compared with the actual price and this provides a better estimation of the currency over and under valuation than the above index. The â€Å"beefed up† index shows that the Brazilian Real is the most overvalued in the world; the Euro is also slightly overvalued. However the two major developing countries – India and China appear to be almost equal to its fair values. ALTERNATIVE INDICES An index similar to the Big Mac index has also been developed by the financial company UBS as part of general compilation of differences in prices and incomes around the globe. The Economist  also comes out with variants of the same. For example in the month of January in 2004, it proposed a  Tall Latte index  by replacing the Big Mac with a Starbucks Tall Latte. Refer Appendix B for the same. Commonwealth Securities, an Australian bank's subsidiary, proposed to create the iPod index by using the concepts behind the Big Mac index. The banks contention that since the Big Mac index can be distorted by taxes, transport costs, labour laws and trade barriers in each country and the iPod was made in a single country – China, it made more sense to use the iPod as a measuring index. Since the iPod was made in a single country, the price should be broadly be the same all over the world and if the price difference were substantial, customers would switch their purchases to other countries (thanks to internet). However it was found to be ineffective since freight charges vary from country to country and countries such as US may get volume discounts. Bloomberg LP also introduced an alternative index known as Billy index after the iconic Ikea’s bookshelf. The index was calculated after converting the bookshelf’s price to US dollars. LIMITATIONS aapendix a APPENDIX B APPENDIX C (Exchange Rates as Of 9th December 2011) | | Country| Currency| ISO| 12-08-2011| 12-09-2011| % Change| | | ARGENTINA| Peso| ARS| 4. 52995| 4. 529656| -0. 01%|   | | | AUSTRALIA| Dollar| AUD| 0. 975877| 0. 983322| 0. 76%| |   | | AUSTRIA| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%|   | | | BELGIUM| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%| | | BRAZIL| Real| BRL| 1. 804477| 1. 809112| 0. 26%|   | | CANADA| Dollar| CAD| 1. 014437| 1. 02021| 0. 57%| | | | CHILE| Peso| CLP| 508. 4706| 509. 9073| 0. 28%|   | | | CHINA| Yuan| CNY| 6. 362878| 6. 3556| -0. 11%| | | CZECH REP. | Koruna| CZK| 18. 90629| 19. 3208| 0. 67%|   | | DENMARK| Krone| DKK| 5. 542461| 5. 54456| 0. 04%| | | | EUROPEAN UNION| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%|   | | | FINLAND| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%| | | FRANCE| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%|   | | | GERMANY| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%| | | | | GREECE| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%|   | | HONG KONG| Dollar| HKD| 7. 776135| 7. 781631| 0. 07%| |   | HUNGARY| Forint| HUF| 227. 0945| 227. 2763| 0. 08%|   | | | ICELAND| Krona| ISK| 119. 1911| 118. 9654| -0. 19%| | | | INDIA| Rupee| INR| 51. 73987| 51. 96812| 0. 44%|   | | INTNL MON. FUND| SDR| XDR| 0. 642256| 0. 642147| -0. 02%| |   | | IRELAND| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%|   | | | ISRAEL| Sheqel| ILS| 3. 775473| 3. 760838| -0. 39%| |   | ITALY| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%|   | | JAPAN| Yen| JPY| 77. 60051| 77. 64678| 0. 06%| | | | KOREA (SOUTH)| Won| KRW| 1132. 612| 1146. 365| 1. 21%| | | KUWAIT| Dinar| KWD| 0. 277164| 0. 277164| 0. 00%| -| | | MEXICO| Peso| MXN| 13. 62357| 13. 64045| 0. 12%|   | | | NETHERLANDS| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%| | | | NEW ZEALAND| Dollar| NZD| 1. 28856| 1. 294989| 0. 50%|   | | | NORWAY| Krone| NOK| 5. 70238| 5. 745565| -0. 43%| | | | PAKISTAN| Rupee| PKR| 89. 01636| 89. 05625| 0. 04%|   | | PERU| Sol| PEN| 2. 701086| 2. 701086| 0. 00%| -| | | PHILIPPINES| Peso| PHP| 43. 29727| 43. 60018| 0. 70%|   | | | POLAND| Zloty| PLN| 3. 360573| 3. 374753| 0. 42%| | | | PORTUGAL| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%|   | | ROMANIA| Leu| RON| 3. 23797| 3. 23797| 0. 00%| -| | | RUSSIA| Ruble| RUB| 31. 43216| 31. 49808| 0. 21%|   | | | SAUDI ARABIA| Riyal| SAR| 3. 750569| 3. 75069| 0. 00%| | | | SINGAPORE| Dollar| SGD| 1. 291813| 1. 294755| 0. 23%|   | | SLOVAKIA| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 4%| | | | SOUTH AFRICA| Rand| ZAR| 8. 204971| 8. 154915| -0. 61%|   | | | SPAIN| Euro| EUR| 0. 74732| 0. 747603| 0. 04%| | | SWEDEN| Krona| SEK| 6. 771076| 6. 73938| -0. 47%|   | | | SWITZERLAND| Franc| CHF| 0. 925818| 0. 923719| -0. 23%| | | | TAIWAN| Dollar| TWD| 30. 16208| 30. 21045| 0. 16%|   | | THAILAND| Baht| THB| 30. 77703| 30. 93439| 0. 51%| |   | | U. A. E. | Dirham| AED| 3. 673236| 3. 673236| 0. 00%| -| | | UKRAINE| Hryvnia| UAH| 8. 000472| 7. 998369| -0. 03%| |   | UNITED KINGDOM| Pound| GBP| 0. 637984| 0. 638233| 0. 04%|   | | | UNITED STATES| Dollar| USD| 1| 1| 0. 00%| -|