Rachael McKelvey

• Burgernomics: The Big Mac Index
• Are podcasts a convenient excuse to read less?
• Women in the workplace
• They joy of homework
• Professional standing

Burgernomics: The Big Mac Index
The Economist bi-annual update to the Big Mac Index has dropped this week which is one of the best pieces of data analysis in the world, bar none. The Big Max Index is a price index established in 1986 as tongue in cheek way of explaining the purchasing power parity of two currencies. The Index tests the theory to what extent market exchange rates results in the same goods costing the same in different countries.

The McDonalds Big Mac is available in most parts of the world and is priced based on local economic factors, wages, ingredient costs, advertising spend so it really does exemplify purchasing power.

It was never intended as a legitimate tool for exchange rate evaluation, but the world loves it, because its easy recognisable and accessible and it sort of works. It not only works to calculate an implied exchange rate between two countries, it can also be used to analyse whether a currency is under or overvalued.

This year’s results imply that the British Pound is currently undervalued by 12.9%, with a Big Mac in Britain costing £3.79 and US$5.36. The most overvalued currency by 35.4% is the Swiss Franc and consistently the most undervalued currency by a whopping 65.6% is the Egyptian Pound, with a Big Mac costing less than US$2. I have no idea what flights cost but let’s go!

Are podcasts a convenient excuse to read less?
I caught this article in last weeks FT about whether podcasts have become a “face-saving” mechanism for non-readers under the pretence that podcasts are educational.

I used to think audiobooks were cheating, but I’m a grown up now with responsibilities in a chaotic world that expects me to show up perfectly absolutely everywhere and while I consider the physical act of reading print important enough to find time to do it, others simply don’t have that luxury or are even able to so if a podcast is an easier way to accessing inaccessible material then you know what, fill your boots.

Podcast covers every genre, in every conceivable way, history but make it funny, You’re Dead to Me, education that’s also equally as stupid, No such thing as a fish, advice on modern life that is both funny and refined Help I Sexted My Boss, want to know if that self help book can really help By The Book , and every other podcast I could mention but won’t.

The medium isn’t for everyone and that’s okay, you don’t have to be smug about it. “But people are starting to conflate it with the hard grind of learning” …and that’s okay.

Women in the Workplace
I’ve had a lot of conversations recently about women in the workplace and you think the world might get somewhere in your life time and then Government Ministers think the best way to support mothers back into the workplace is a letter writing campaign, I can only assume there will also be an update to legal tender laws where these letters can be used in exchange for childcare and presented to an employer for guaranteed non prejudiced flexible working?

While this government continue to trip over their own feet, I find it absolutely astounding how little evolution there seems to be in making room for women in the workplace, admittedly we have not been there as long as men to work it out vs a lifetime for our male colleagues. The 2022 Women in the Workplace study from LeanIn.Org and McKinsey the largest comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America, highlights that women are drastically underrepresented in leadership and leaving in droves, there is a “broken rung” that’s holding women back from being promoted to managers and if they are promoted face a series of assumptions they are still the least qualified in the room. Can’t imagine why a mother would swap precious time with their child in their early years for that.

The joy of homework
This week my current foster dog & I got to spend some time with a Dog Behaviourist and now have a protocol designed to help my current four legged pal cope a little better in the big outdoors and I am excited!

It’s so hard to see him not be able to enjoy everything the world has to offer because he just doesn’t know what to do with himself in certain situations through no fault of his own.

After agonising for hours on the website about what toys he might like to assist his training, they finally arrived and before the parcel was even fully opened, he had picked his favourite, the first…so I am super pleased I agonised over the rest of the contents – it’s a good job he’s cute.

We now start some very specific and dedicated, 100% fun play indoors everyday with this toy before we graduate to the next phase…I do not need asking twice to play to the exclusion of all other things with this little man, in fact it’s a highlight of the day!

Professional Standing
In a week that has seen the Minister for the cabinet office subject to an independent investigation for his tax affairs, alongside the the current Deputy Prime Minister; and the former Prime Minister now all subject to independent investigations into their behaviour I’m sitting here a little confused how these things aren’t actively routinely checked.

To be anywhere near financial services I’ve been DBS checked regularly, I must disclose my financial holdings and interests regularly and those of my partners regularly even though we are in no way legally or financially connected to each other, but we do live/work in the same house more often than not.

I am not saving lives, I am not setting standards for the nation to live by and I am not protecting vulnerable individuals in any way, so why are we all held to different standards of account? I’d have lost my job and my career at even a hint of some of the allegations against those in the roles above and I am not the only one, I look across my close friend group and I’ve no doubt they’ve had to meet a standard regularly to continue in their positions.

So yes, to those asking if anyone really care about the individual affairs of certain individuals in positions of power, we do. It should be part and parcel of the ability to hold those roles.

Current watch: Panorama: Dogs, Dealers and Organised Crime – My gosh this was an excruciating watch, Sam Polling went undercover to examine the relationship between organised crime and breeding dogs, specifically bulldog breeds. The episode shows the cruelty and negligence the designer dog trade results in and while it’s a truly hideous watch, its important to see what goes on behind that cute dog picture you might see on social media and how you like really does perpetuate the perceived desire.

Current read: Quiet Girls Can Run the World: The beta woman’s handbook to the modern workplace by Rebecca Holman – My first book from the library! I am very much a Beta gal, probably more so than the author! Pragmatism, collaboration, quiet, that is my jam. This book is full of anecdotes, interviews and case studies exploring the role of women in the workplace today, we’ve only had 60 years to work out how to get the job done and be successful. I’ve found reading this book oddly comforting, a timely reminder to lead your way because you can’t be what you can’t see and maybe our generation of Beta leaders may never make it to the board room in a world that only acknowledges more masculine qualities in female leaders, but it won’t always be that way and we’re paving a way for those behind us to take that next step on.

Most impactful listen: The News Agents: Nicola Sturgeon on Gender, Starmer and Prince Harry – Lewis Goodall travelled to Holyrood to sit down for a long chat with Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, and Leader of the Scottish National Party. Despite your feelings on her politics it’s hard to deny her presence in British Politics, she joins us with being on her fifth Tory Prime Minister and I always listen in interest when she speaks in slightly longer form than we get to see her portrayed in the media. Lewis talks to the First Minister about her political career, the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, the next general election and the strengths and weaknesses of all those in the revolving doors at number 10. The quick fire round on this one made me laugh out loud. It took me back to Alastair Campbell Living Better in Lockdown interviews where Nicola was a guest and spoke with such humanity