[jerryszczerry]

> […] In an Asian country the Sallies could set up fried rice or noodle stalls selling cheap meals to the Joes, for the equivalent of a dollar or two. They've set up a mutual trade for mutual advantage, and they're both better off.

> In a Western country Joe and Sally are banned from making this trade, ostensibly to protect Joe's interests. If Joe wants cheap food, his only option is to go to McDonald's, where they've made everything hyper-efficient and standardised to provide cheap food, while meeting minimum wage laws, hygiene regulations, and so on.

So, if Sally can provide food cheaper than McDonald's, that means:

a. she is more efficient than McDonald's, she being a single woman, they being a multinational corporation, or

b. she doesn't conform to the same hygiene and nutrition standards, making less valuable products.

Which one seems more probable?