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No. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/big-mac-cost-denmark/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/big-mac-cost-denmark/

rsj_hn 5y ago
Snopes is a poor fact checker and should never be relied upon by someone who can use google. Here is a more accurate article that consists of actual reporting: "True, a Big Mac here costs more — $5.60, compared with $4.80 in the United States. But that is a price Danes are willing to pay. “We Danes accept that a burger is expensive, but we also know that working conditions and wages are decent when we eat that burger,” said Soren Kaj Andersen, a University of Copenhagen professor who specializes in labor issues.” https://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/the-price-of-a-big-mac-in-denmark-worth-the-wages https://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/the-price-of-a-big... Bottom line, everything has a cost. Higher wages do need to be paid for with higher prices. Wise people understand that the world has trade offs and they make those trade offs with open eyes. Foolish people pretend there is no tradeoff.
- ipv6ipv4 5y ago
  The snopes article links directly to the Big Mac index [1] which is the authority on the real cost of a Big Mac. It’s cheaper in Denmark than in the U.S. by any measure. 1. https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index
  - adventured 5y ago
    The Big Mac Index is a mediocre currency education toy, nothing more. And they admit it: > Burgernomics was never intended as a precise gauge of currency misalignment, merely a tool to make exchange-rate theory more digestible. The Big Mac Index is also not accurate as it pertains to the US. Big Mac prices vary considerably by location in the US (ranging from $3.x to $6.x). It'd be like trying to pretend there's a Big Mac price in the EU. The index claims $5.65 for the US. That's their poor attempt at a national guess, they didn't actually figure out prices for every location, and they appear to have picked a high price as their foundation. Cities in Florida, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio are commonly in the $4.x price area for example. This article finds the national average is closer to $4.82 (in my state it's well below that) - https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/why-big-mac-costs-more-seattle-austin https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/why-big-m...
- another-dave 5y ago
  But the article you linked doesn't seem to refute that Big Macs don't cost particularly more in Denmark than the US. If you do go by the "Big Mac index" (with price relative to 1hr @ average wage) it is probably more affordable in Denmark than US
  - adventured 5y ago
    > it is probably more affordable in Denmark than US It's not. You're not accounting for the higher US wages for one thing. Median take home pay is about 40% higher in the US vs Denmark. The Big Mac Index also gets pricing wrong for the Big Mac in the US market. Their quoted $5.65 figure is higher than nearly every state's average, and far higher than most states. The average US state Big Mac price is comparable to or below Denmark. US workers have far more disposable income than workers in Denmark. Tax rates are dramatically higher in Denmark than in the US (over 2x higher for someone earning $40,000 per year). The US has a far more progressive taxation system. Someone earning $38,000 in Denmark takes home about as much as someone earning $30,000 in the US; someone earning $61k in Denmark takes home about as much as someone earning $50k in the US. US workers at the median and average earn higher wages than people in Denmark do. "In Denmark, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 29,606 a year, lower than the OECD average of USD 33,604 a year." vs "In the United States, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 45,284 a year, much higher than the OECD average of USD 33,604 a year, and the highest figure in the OECD." https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/denmark/ https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/denmark/ Don't like average (since the high tier incomes in the US warp things so much)? Ok, how about the median: $35,600 US (2017) vs $28,926 Denmark (2016) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income Since this has deflated the myth about higher wages in Denmark, the next response will be: yeah, but people in Denmark have healthcare. And so do people in the US as it turns out, commonly provided by their employer. So if we're going to back healthcare costs out of the high Denmark tax rates, we have to add the drastically more expensive US healthcare (about 90% more expensive in the US per capita) back in to employee wages to one extent or another to adjust correctly. The US worker would gain even more ground vs their peer in Denmark. But does this tell the whole story? Well, no. Household finances are in horrific condition in Denmark compared to the US, which throws further question on affordability of the burger prices. The people of Denmark are approximately the most indebted people in the world vs their disposable incomes. https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm
- jrsj 5y ago
  It may have been more accurate when it was published in 2014 but it’s definitely not more accurate now.
- jeroenhd 5y ago
  Big Mac pricing varies throughout Europe. Dutch McDonald's employees are paid way less than the $22 the Danes get, but our Big Macs are more expensive. There is definitely a tradeoff to be made because nothing ever comes for free. However, that 4.73 billion dollar profit can give every one of their 210k employees each an extra 20k per year (regardless of the average income in their respective countries) before it would even turn a loss based on 2020 numbers. And that's not even taking into account the fact that 2020 profits were significantly down. In a fair system, increases in price would pay for wage increases and vice versa. In practice, price increases flow towards the top.
  - liaukovv 5y ago
    The company doesn't exist to make money for it's employees.
    - spoonjim 5y ago
      And the employee doesn’t exist to make money for their employer’s shareholders, and this entire article shows how employees can capture some of that money if they work in solidarity.
      - gruez 5y ago
        >And the employee doesn’t exist to make money for their employer’s shareholders which is why the employer pays the employee for their service. >this entire article shows how employees can capture some of that money if they work in solidarity. creating a cartel is one way to strengthen your bargaining position.
        spoonjim 5y ago
        Yes. Denmark shows the power of the worker’s cartel. It’s smart business tactics, the kind that the employer would praise in their own management.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- maccolgan 5y ago
  >"True, a Big Mac here costs more — $5.60, compared with $4.80 in the United States. But that is a price Danes are willing to pay. “We Danes accept that a burger is expensive, but we also know that working conditions and wages are decent when we eat that burger,” said Soren Kaj Andersen, a University of Copenhagen professor who specializes in labor issues.” Is there a name for this kind of rationalization ?
  - BuyMyBitcoins 5y ago
    Our lexicon definitely needs a term for this. If there isn’t a concise term for the concept I fear people will struggle to convey the meaning behind what they’re noticing. It feels deceptive and underhanded. I can give all sorts of synonyms but without a term for it, I fear labeling it, and therefore trying to counter it, won’t be effective. I’m seeing these kinds of rationalizations all the time these days. Especially in the news.
    - maccolgan 5y ago
      I think this qualifies pretty much as coping or huffing the copium as Twitter calls it these days...
  - dlp211 5y ago
    Yes, it's called empathy and humanity.
- jojohohanon 5y ago
  The economist publishes a Big Mac index of currency over/under valuations. I’m sure unions play a factor, but many others do as well.
- Steltek 5y ago
  Price to purchase != cost to produce. You would need study more detailed financials than merely the number on the screen above the register to get this answer.
- dqx 5y ago
  > Snopes is a poor fact checker Is there a single fact in the linked Snopes article that is incorrect?
- MisterBastahrd 5y ago
  So 80 cents more for an individual item despite the fact that they're making almost 3x the US minimum wage and getting full benefits to boot... and probably aren't on public assistance to make up for their lack of wages... and beef is likely less expensive in general in the states. Not a bad trade off.
- tomtimtall 5y ago
  Honest question, do people add tips to McD in the US? Because then comparing the price payed by the customer in the transaction becomes closer, even higher if you factor in 20% tip. Denmark does not have a culture of tipping, it’s rarely done, primarily in very fancy restaurants and no one would ever tip or expect anyone to tip in a McD.
  - mrep 5y ago
    Not normally. I've personally never heard of anyone tipping at a fast food joint here in the US.
- ToFab123 5y ago
  For comparison of a price of a big mac between different countries, try to look at the "Big Mac Index". The Big Mac Index basically says "How many minutes do you have to work in country X in order to be able to buy a Big Mac compared to Country Y." https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index
desmosxxx 5y ago
Isn't the relevant measure how expensive the hamburger would have been in Denmark, and not some cross country comparison.
beerandt 5y ago
Wrong. More evidence of Snopes incompetence and bias. The Big Mac index is based on the presumption that Big Macs cost the same to produce in different countries. Using that same currency index as a measure of Big Mac cost difference is, by definition, wrong, and a gross misinterpretation of circular logic. If you don't consider a Big Mac to be an equivalent basket of goods (including labor price) then the whole concept falls apart and is meaningless. What everyone ITT is comparing is actual purchasing power to exchange rate. The whole discussion of Big Macs having different embedded costs per country is a discussion on why the Big Mac index is flawed.

Snopes is a poor fact checker and should never be relied upon by someone who can use google. Here is a more accurate article that consists of actual reporting: "True, a Big Mac here costs more — $5.60, compared with $4.80 in the United States. But that is a price Danes are willing to pay. “We Danes accept that a burger is expensive, but we also know that working conditions and wages are decent when we eat that burger,” said Soren Kaj Andersen, a University of Copenhagen professor who specializes in labor issues.” https://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/the-price-of-a-big-mac-in-denmark-worth-the-wages https://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/the-price-of-a-big... Bottom line, everything has a cost. Higher wages do need to be paid for with higher prices. Wise people understand that the world has trade offs and they make those trade offs with open eyes. Foolish people pretend there is no tradeoff.

ipv6ipv4 5y ago
The snopes article links directly to the Big Mac index [1] which is the authority on the real cost of a Big Mac. It’s cheaper in Denmark than in the U.S. by any measure. 1. https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index
- adventured 5y ago
  The Big Mac Index is a mediocre currency education toy, nothing more. And they admit it: > Burgernomics was never intended as a precise gauge of currency misalignment, merely a tool to make exchange-rate theory more digestible. The Big Mac Index is also not accurate as it pertains to the US. Big Mac prices vary considerably by location in the US (ranging from $3.x to $6.x). It'd be like trying to pretend there's a Big Mac price in the EU. The index claims $5.65 for the US. That's their poor attempt at a national guess, they didn't actually figure out prices for every location, and they appear to have picked a high price as their foundation. Cities in Florida, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio are commonly in the $4.x price area for example. This article finds the national average is closer to $4.82 (in my state it's well below that) - https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/why-big-mac-costs-more-seattle-austin https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/why-big-m...
another-dave 5y ago
But the article you linked doesn't seem to refute that Big Macs don't cost particularly more in Denmark than the US. If you do go by the "Big Mac index" (with price relative to 1hr @ average wage) it is probably more affordable in Denmark than US
- adventured 5y ago
  > it is probably more affordable in Denmark than US It's not. You're not accounting for the higher US wages for one thing. Median take home pay is about 40% higher in the US vs Denmark. The Big Mac Index also gets pricing wrong for the Big Mac in the US market. Their quoted $5.65 figure is higher than nearly every state's average, and far higher than most states. The average US state Big Mac price is comparable to or below Denmark. US workers have far more disposable income than workers in Denmark. Tax rates are dramatically higher in Denmark than in the US (over 2x higher for someone earning $40,000 per year). The US has a far more progressive taxation system. Someone earning $38,000 in Denmark takes home about as much as someone earning $30,000 in the US; someone earning $61k in Denmark takes home about as much as someone earning $50k in the US. US workers at the median and average earn higher wages than people in Denmark do. "In Denmark, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 29,606 a year, lower than the OECD average of USD 33,604 a year." vs "In the United States, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 45,284 a year, much higher than the OECD average of USD 33,604 a year, and the highest figure in the OECD." https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/denmark/ https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/denmark/ Don't like average (since the high tier incomes in the US warp things so much)? Ok, how about the median: $35,600 US (2017) vs $28,926 Denmark (2016) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income Since this has deflated the myth about higher wages in Denmark, the next response will be: yeah, but people in Denmark have healthcare. And so do people in the US as it turns out, commonly provided by their employer. So if we're going to back healthcare costs out of the high Denmark tax rates, we have to add the drastically more expensive US healthcare (about 90% more expensive in the US per capita) back in to employee wages to one extent or another to adjust correctly. The US worker would gain even more ground vs their peer in Denmark. But does this tell the whole story? Well, no. Household finances are in horrific condition in Denmark compared to the US, which throws further question on affordability of the burger prices. The people of Denmark are approximately the most indebted people in the world vs their disposable incomes. https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm
jrsj 5y ago
It may have been more accurate when it was published in 2014 but it’s definitely not more accurate now.
jeroenhd 5y ago
Big Mac pricing varies throughout Europe. Dutch McDonald's employees are paid way less than the $22 the Danes get, but our Big Macs are more expensive. There is definitely a tradeoff to be made because nothing ever comes for free. However, that 4.73 billion dollar profit can give every one of their 210k employees each an extra 20k per year (regardless of the average income in their respective countries) before it would even turn a loss based on 2020 numbers. And that's not even taking into account the fact that 2020 profits were significantly down. In a fair system, increases in price would pay for wage increases and vice versa. In practice, price increases flow towards the top.
- liaukovv 5y ago
  The company doesn't exist to make money for it's employees.
  - spoonjim 5y ago
    And the employee doesn’t exist to make money for their employer’s shareholders, and this entire article shows how employees can capture some of that money if they work in solidarity.
    - gruez 5y ago
      >And the employee doesn’t exist to make money for their employer’s shareholders which is why the employer pays the employee for their service. >this entire article shows how employees can capture some of that money if they work in solidarity. creating a cartel is one way to strengthen your bargaining position.
      - spoonjim 5y ago
        Yes. Denmark shows the power of the worker’s cartel. It’s smart business tactics, the kind that the employer would praise in their own management.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
maccolgan 5y ago
>"True, a Big Mac here costs more — $5.60, compared with $4.80 in the United States. But that is a price Danes are willing to pay. “We Danes accept that a burger is expensive, but we also know that working conditions and wages are decent when we eat that burger,” said Soren Kaj Andersen, a University of Copenhagen professor who specializes in labor issues.” Is there a name for this kind of rationalization ?
- BuyMyBitcoins 5y ago
  Our lexicon definitely needs a term for this. If there isn’t a concise term for the concept I fear people will struggle to convey the meaning behind what they’re noticing. It feels deceptive and underhanded. I can give all sorts of synonyms but without a term for it, I fear labeling it, and therefore trying to counter it, won’t be effective. I’m seeing these kinds of rationalizations all the time these days. Especially in the news.
  - maccolgan 5y ago
    I think this qualifies pretty much as coping or huffing the copium as Twitter calls it these days...
- dlp211 5y ago
  Yes, it's called empathy and humanity.
jojohohanon 5y ago
The economist publishes a Big Mac index of currency over/under valuations. I’m sure unions play a factor, but many others do as well.
Steltek 5y ago
Price to purchase != cost to produce. You would need study more detailed financials than merely the number on the screen above the register to get this answer.
dqx 5y ago
> Snopes is a poor fact checker Is there a single fact in the linked Snopes article that is incorrect?
MisterBastahrd 5y ago
So 80 cents more for an individual item despite the fact that they're making almost 3x the US minimum wage and getting full benefits to boot... and probably aren't on public assistance to make up for their lack of wages... and beef is likely less expensive in general in the states. Not a bad trade off.
tomtimtall 5y ago
Honest question, do people add tips to McD in the US? Because then comparing the price payed by the customer in the transaction becomes closer, even higher if you factor in 20% tip. Denmark does not have a culture of tipping, it’s rarely done, primarily in very fancy restaurants and no one would ever tip or expect anyone to tip in a McD.
- mrep 5y ago
  Not normally. I've personally never heard of anyone tipping at a fast food joint here in the US.
ToFab123 5y ago
For comparison of a price of a big mac between different countries, try to look at the "Big Mac Index". The Big Mac Index basically says "How many minutes do you have to work in country X in order to be able to buy a Big Mac compared to Country Y." https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index

desmosxxx 5y ago

Isn't the relevant measure how expensive the hamburger would have been in Denmark, and not some cross country comparison.

beerandt 5y ago

Wrong. More evidence of Snopes incompetence and bias. The Big Mac index is based on the presumption that Big Macs cost the same to produce in different countries. Using that same currency index as a measure of Big Mac cost difference is, by definition, wrong, and a gross misinterpretation of circular logic. If you don't consider a Big Mac to be an equivalent basket of goods (including labor price) then the whole concept falls apart and is meaningless. What everyone ITT is comparing is actual purchasing power to exchange rate. The whole discussion of Big Macs having different embedded costs per country is a discussion on why the Big Mac index is flawed.