The US Sushinomics Index

Image: bloombergbusinessweek.com

Sushinomics sounds like a sound bite an Anglo-Saxon journalist created to describe official Japanese fiscal policy. However, this is one duck that may quack like a duck, but is not a duck at all. In fact, Sushinomics is a shorthand for something the Bloomberg news service calls the Sushinomics Premium Priced Index (SPPI).

According to a bloomberg.com report, the SPPI is an all-American phenomenon. The index measures the price of sushi in major US metropolitan areas. Leading the pack are New York and hedge fund epicenter Greenwich, Connecticut. The Gotham restaurateurs complain that the cost of doing business in the Big Apple make high prices inevitable. No such excuse has emerged, so far, from their commutable brothers and sisters in Greenwich.

The cheapest city, according to the anonymous sushi price meter readers, is New Orleans. Somehow, the birthplace of jazz just doesn't seem to be the best fit for spiced tuna rolls and sake.

PS. The Bloomberg story includes Sushinomics data and related graphs. Wasabi and ginger are not included.