Where in the world can one live and get a great bang for the buck while still realizing a good quality of living.
2007-08-17 04:13:46 · 4 answers · asked by redford 2 in Social Science ➔ Economics
Countries with a high degree of income inequality and a moderate to high GDP per capita usually provides what you are looking for. The good quality of living is there for the well off and the plentiful supply of cheap labor makes for a low cost of living.
The US is increasing becoming such a country, especially if you avoid large cities and high poverty areas, so I would check out places like Daytona Beach FL .
http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2007/07/17/united-states-income-inequality-map/
http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2006/01/04/gdp-per-capital-vs-gini-index/
Here is a list of countries by income inequality. The most unequal countries tend to be in Africa and South/Central America, but most of the African ones are too poor.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_dis_of_fam_inc_gin_ind-distribution-family-income-gini-index/AFR
2007-08-17 04:42:31 · answer #1 · answered by meg 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What would be the source of your income? If you plan to work in your new country, the most important question is what are salaries relative to the cost of living.
If your income would still come from the country you left, for example, social security income from the US government, then the exchange rate between the dollar and the local currency is probably the most important question. You would like to find a country whose currency is undervalued relative to the dollar, and thus a dollar will buy a lot in that country. There are not many such countries left because of the decline in the value of the dollar.
By this standard, the worst countries are those in Europe and Japan whose currencies, if anything, are overvalued relative to the dollar. The Big Mac index published by the Economist magazine is one measure of whether a currency is under or overvalued (see link below).
My favorite country would be Thailand. It is a beautiful country, and a dollar will buy 45% more than in the US. In other words for a fixed dollar income, your standard of living will improve by almost half compared to the US.
2007-08-17 14:05:12 · answer #2 · answered by Robert 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In grave, quality definitely costs a lot
2007-08-17 11:22:39 · answer #3 · answered by Beni 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The pasteur is always green on the other side!
Even in our country the COL is killing us.
2007-08-17 11:43:33 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋