How much is "50 Cent" the rapper worth in Foreign Currencies? Economics is FUN!

On David Wessel's Twitter feed he retweeted this:

I thought it funny as well.

Using my meager Excel skills, I cobbled together the latest exchange rates from the Wall Street Journal (Sept 17th, 2014).

In order to give it a little more perspective, I determined what it would take in US currency for 50 Cent the rapper to be the equivalent of 50% (half) of the foreign currency.  Sometimes he needs to be a little more but for the most part he can be a less than himself.

Example: Look at the BLUE column for and the first entry for the Kuwaiti Dinar.

It shows that 50 Cent would actually have to be "174 Cent" ($1.74) in order to exchange for half a Kuwaiti Dinar.  I got $1.74 by dividing the "US Dollar per Foreign Currency" (3rd column--the actual exchange rate) by $.50 cents.  In other words "If it takes $3.49 to "buy" one Kuwaiti Dinar then it will take $1.74 (rounded) to buy half a Kuwaiti Dinar".

From the Kuwaiti Dinar on down the list, 50 Cent would have to be MORE than himself to be the equivalent in the particular foreign currency...until you get to Ecuador.  Ecuador uses the dollar so 50 Cent would be $.50 in Ecuador.

In any country below Ecuador, 50 Cent can be LESS than himself and still have some left over!

For example, in Canada he would only have to be 46 Cent (rounded) and enjoy a 4 Cent surplus. :)

NOTE: To find the calculation consistent with what is highlighted in the newspaper clipping, take the RECIPROCAL of the numbers you see in the RIGHT hand column below.