While per capita GDP is a useful number that reveals some information about the economics of a country relative to the world stage, I may be alone in finding th

While per capita GDP is a useful number that reveals some information about the economics of a country relative to the world stage, I may be alone in finding that its often misleading - particularly when we're talking about what life is like for the common man. In those cases, I tend to find that things like: The Big Mac Index [1]; the more general World Price Index (a standardized basket of goods) [2]; or the even more general Purchasing Power Parity [3]; are better reflective of the human scale question, which IMO is "for a common wage, what can be purchased, and how expensive is it." Basically, its great if our per capita GDP is 2x someone else, if our local prices are also 2x, then our actual wage goes roughly the same distance. Another way is: if I had the equivalent of a $1M in Cuba, went to Mexico, and exchanged it with no fee, how would my relative purchasing power change. Major Caveat: Findings for PPP are heavily dependent on your reference basket of goods. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Price_Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Price_Index [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity