In: Economics
Absolute PPP tells us that the price of a basket of goods should be equal in all markets regardless of the currency used to purchase it .
Law of one price tells us that the price of one good in a country must be equal to the price of same good in other countries after taking in consideration the exchange rate between the countries .
Absolute PPP is an extreme form of law of one price . The idea of absolute PPP is based on this law . As the definition goes if absolute PPP holds then the law of one price holds definitely because goods are price equally in all markets .
Relative PPP is dynamic version of absolute PPP . In relative the change in exchange rate should be proportional to the relative change in price levels .
If absolute PPP holds then relative PPP must also hold . But the converse need not be true .
We can imagine a situation when a basket always costs a fixed amount more say by 20% in one country than in the other in common currency . Absolute PPP will fail but relative PPP will hold in this case .
If law of one price holds , then :
Absolute PPP :
Relative PPP :