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Tradable and Non-Tradable Goods

There is a further point, which is that clear differentiation has to be made between tradable and non-tradable goods. PPP may not hold for non-tradable goods such as services. The dry world of economics is frequently best explained through example and anecdote. Thus, a haircut might be cheaper in New York than London (most things are and this is not one of the exceptions), but few people would be prepared to fly to New York from London just to get that cheaper haircut. This is not just because to do so you would have to pay for a London–New York return flight, which would negate any haircut-related gains you would make. Even supposing the air ticket was free would you really fly 8 hours for a cheaper haircut? The PPP concept assumes there are no barriers to the arbitraging of price differentials, yet with non-tradable goods this may not be the case. Granted, there may always be some wayward individuals who would actually take that flight!
PPP or the law of one price holds better of necessity for homogeneous commodities that are traded internationally, with arbitrage opportunities being quickly eliminated. However, even here, care is needed. While PPP may hold generally, prices even of homogeneous commodities may vary widely between countries depending on local supply/demand dynamics. Indeed, the very fact that the price of a McDonalds Big Mac, which is a homogeneous commodity, can vary between countries for even a short period of time proves this point.

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