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How money, trade and markets move the world.
Money connects every economy on Earth, yet the ideas behind prices, currencies and markets are often explained badly. Our Business & Money stories make those ideas clear, from the Big Mac Index and purchasing power parity to the way new industries grow from scratch, like Nigeria's film business. We explain how trade, exchange rates and business models work, using real examples from many countries and data from reliable sources. Nothing here is financial advice; the aim is understanding, so that the next economic headline you read makes a little more sense than the last one did.
Started as a lighthearted joke in 1986, The Economist's Big Mac Index has become one of the most quoted guides to whether currencies are overvalued or undervalued. Here is how it works, and where it falls short.