Real Costs

The Brazilian Real has been appreciating significantly since last March. This rally has pushed the price of Big Mac up dramatically, according to this story in Bloomberg:

Buying McDonald’s Corp.’s flagship hamburger costs 8 reais in Sao Paulo, or $4.62, compared with $3.99 in New York and 2.29 pounds in the U.K. capital, or $3.74.

This is the counterpart to the dollar's weakening of course. But Brazil's President has not taken this lying down. As the Economist reports:

Brazil has gone for the direct approach. Foreign capital has flooded in, attracted by the healthy prospects for economic growth and high short-term interest rates. That has pushed up local stock prices, as well as the real, Brazil’s currency. To stem the tide, the government this week reintroduced a tax on foreign purchases of equities and bonds. Though many doubt the long-term efficacy of such measures, it had an immediate effect. The real, which had risen by more than one-third since March, fell by 2% (before regaining some ground). Brazil’s main stockmarket dropped by almost 3%.

This seems like quite a costly way to prevent currency appreciation -- cause your own stock market to fall. Perhaps a useful move to prick a bubble, but Brazil's appreciation versus the dollar does not seem to be driven by much other than fundamentals.