As to (1): I looked at http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=income+per+capita+in+eastern+europe http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=income+per+capita+in+ea...

As to (1): I looked at http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=income+per+capita+in+eastern+europe http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=income+per+capita+in+ea... and noted that the highest income per capita is 12.64 times larger than the lowest. I'm not sure how that "quantifies" anything. And before you say that the highest number, $21,000 is meaningful in anyway, let me just add that I've paid programmers $65,000 a year (in Poland). Please, people, stop generalizing. "Eastern Europe" is just as silly as EMEA, "SouthEast Asia" or "North America".