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> Cheap and luxurious expat living is bankrolled by the relative poverty of the native people. How are expats employing locals at local wages (instead of at t

> Cheap and luxurious expat living is bankrolled by the relative poverty of the native people. How are expats employing locals at local wages (instead of at the equivalent wages in their home countries) being "bankrolled" by poverty? They contribute more money (and more directly) to people in poor countries than the people living in Western countries whose houses are filled with goods made by poor people in countries they probably couldn't locate on a map. > We had a cook, a nanny, a maid, and a driver on what was maybe the equivalent of a $65,000 salary today. But that’s possible because people are poor. If your cook, nanny, maid and driver didn't work for your family, what do you realistically think they would have done to earn income? Are people in Bangladesh poor because the tiny community of Western expats living there hire cooks, nannies, maids and drivers and don't pay them what they would earn in those roles in the US or Europe? Or are people in Bangladesh poor because of the country's troubled history, overpopulation, low urbanization, corrupt and ineffective institutions, etc.? > In my mind people who want to live that kind of lifestyle are kind of morally defective. Those are really strong words. In your mind, are people in the West who buy and use products manufactured on the cheap in poor countries every single day of their lives also morally defective? Edit: You mentioned that your dad worked for a Planned Parenthood affiliate. Poor countries often desperately need knowledge, skills and experience that are in short supply locally, in all areas from medicine to infrastructure. At the same time, it can be very difficult to find skilled foreigners willing to relocate to these countries and contribute their skills for the benefit of these countries. Even with high salaries, a cook, nanny, maid and driver, life in a place like Bangladesh is not going to appeal to the vast majority of Westerners. So employers often help arrange for expats to have benefits, like household help, to incentivize people to come.

yutijke 5y ago
I've seen a lot of resentment towards tech workers in tech-hubs for bringing up the cost of living. They're blamed for bringing up the prices with to their outsized spending power allowing them to push up the prices beyond what locals can afford. Expats in poorer country exceed this by at least an order of magnitude or two in relative spending power. I wouldn't be surprised if a high density of expats would cause resentment among the locals due to the resulting gentrification.
- ExpatSteve 5y ago
  I've lived in numerous developing countries and while I can certainly think of a number of places where gentrification pushed locals out of certain neighborhoods, I've never seen expats doing this on the scale I witnessed in the US. It's a complex issue. First, expats are not a homogeneous bunch. In a lot of developing countries in SE Asia, for instance, the expat communities are not made up of large numbers of truly affluent people. Generally, the expats who live in the expensive buildings/houses and employ local help (maids, cooks, etc.) work for large companies (in higher-level roles), embassies and NGOs. The majority of the "digital nomad" types don't actually live affluent lifestyles in my experience. Sure, they make a lot more than the locals, but they're not spending $3,000/month on an apartment in Bangkok or HCMC. This doesn't mean they don't have an effect on local economies, but there just aren't enough expats in fast-growing, fast-developing cities to cause negative gentrification effects like you see in places like the SF Bay Area. Second, in some places, like Bali, the economies are totally built around the presence of foreigners (expats, "semi-permanent" foreign residents and foreign tourists). Take them away and the locals suffer massively. Bali has been absolutely bleeding because of COVID. I guarantee you if you asked the average Balinese person if they want "normal" to return (which means a heavy foreigner population), they would tell you "yes x10000000000000". Finally, a lot of developing countries, while still poor, have fast-growing economies and there is a lot of development taking place that is driven by the growing wealth and urbanization locally. I worked in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) for a time and while you could see the effect expats had in a neighborhood like BBK1, other neighborhoods were clearly changing more as a result of the growing wealth of locals and increased urbanization (people coming from the countryside to find opportunity in the city).

yutijke 5y ago

I've seen a lot of resentment towards tech workers in tech-hubs for bringing up the cost of living. They're blamed for bringing up the prices with to their outsized spending power allowing them to push up the prices beyond what locals can afford. Expats in poorer country exceed this by at least an order of magnitude or two in relative spending power. I wouldn't be surprised if a high density of expats would cause resentment among the locals due to the resulting gentrification.

ExpatSteve 5y ago
I've lived in numerous developing countries and while I can certainly think of a number of places where gentrification pushed locals out of certain neighborhoods, I've never seen expats doing this on the scale I witnessed in the US. It's a complex issue. First, expats are not a homogeneous bunch. In a lot of developing countries in SE Asia, for instance, the expat communities are not made up of large numbers of truly affluent people. Generally, the expats who live in the expensive buildings/houses and employ local help (maids, cooks, etc.) work for large companies (in higher-level roles), embassies and NGOs. The majority of the "digital nomad" types don't actually live affluent lifestyles in my experience. Sure, they make a lot more than the locals, but they're not spending $3,000/month on an apartment in Bangkok or HCMC. This doesn't mean they don't have an effect on local economies, but there just aren't enough expats in fast-growing, fast-developing cities to cause negative gentrification effects like you see in places like the SF Bay Area. Second, in some places, like Bali, the economies are totally built around the presence of foreigners (expats, "semi-permanent" foreign residents and foreign tourists). Take them away and the locals suffer massively. Bali has been absolutely bleeding because of COVID. I guarantee you if you asked the average Balinese person if they want "normal" to return (which means a heavy foreigner population), they would tell you "yes x10000000000000". Finally, a lot of developing countries, while still poor, have fast-growing economies and there is a lot of development taking place that is driven by the growing wealth and urbanization locally. I worked in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) for a time and while you could see the effect expats had in a neighborhood like BBK1, other neighborhoods were clearly changing more as a result of the growing wealth of locals and increased urbanization (people coming from the countryside to find opportunity in the city).