6 ms·

> among the highest in the world but its not in the top 10 https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/03/15/asian-and-european-cities-compete-for-the-title

• c0nfused 8y ago
  That's a bit like arguing the second brightest kid in your middle school class could be smarter. Technically correct, but mostly a falsehood. There are a whole lot of cities out there, few of them are more expensive than the bay area.
• hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
  2 things with that survey: 1. It said American cities had fallen because of dollar weakness, which means it sounds like they're comparing based on exchange rates instead of purchasing power parity. Obviously for people paid in dollars in those cities, a weaker dollar doesn't make anything cheaper. 2. A lot of those expensive cities, especially in Europe, have much better social services. So Oslo may be very expensive and taxes sky high, but families there aren't worried about how to put their kids through college or how to pay for medical expenses.
  • village-idiot 8y ago
    You really have to compare cost over the entire life cycle, the effect of social services, financial regulations, tax rates, etc. will vastly differ between the very young and the very old.