Forbes: The most expensive cities in the world

(An interesting article about cost of living, economy)

By Sarah Lynch
Forbes.com Jul 8th, 2009

Think your morning commute is expensive? Think again. The ride on a bus or subway in Tokyo costs $3.25. Grab a newspaper and a cup of coffee on the way and the total comes to $11.70. That's more than anywhere else in the world--24% more than what those same things cost in New York even.

Tokyo is the world's most expensive city, according to Mercer's 2009 Worldwide Cost of Living survey released today, with the cost of living up 13.1% from 2008; the city ranked at No. 2 in 2008's survey. Japan's capital is followed by Osaka and Moscow, which held the top spot in last year's rankings. Geneva comes in fourth.

The significant changes from last year are due to massive swings in exchange rates, with many currencies at their weakest in years against the U.S. dollar, during the March 2009 survey period. Because of this, New York moved up 14 spaces to No. 8 from No. 22. London dropped to No. 16 from No. 3 as the pound dropped as low as 1.37 against the U.S. dollar during the study period. Six months earlier, one pound was worth $1.86.

"Changes in exchange rate tend to be one of the major drivers, I would argue the major driver, in cost of living," says Rebecca Powers, a principal consultant at Mercer. Even with the U.S. dollar weakening over the past four months--it's now worth $1.65--due in part to the Obama administration's stimulus package, the cost of living in London, when measured against the value of the U.S. dollar, is significantly lower than it was a year ago, when the pound was worth more than $2.

Other notable jumps from last year's ranking to this year's are Dubai, which moved to No. 20 from No. 52, and Caracas, which moved to No. 15 from No. 89. Both climbed so quickly because the local currencies are pegged to the greenback; the more the dollar's value increased, so did the cost of living in those places (but Caracas also has a high rate of inflation, pushing up prices for basic goods).

All U.S. cities included in the ranking also experienced a rise, including Los Angeles, up 32 places, and Washington, D.C., up 41 places.

Behind the Numbers

To generate its ranking of the world's most expensive cities, Mercer, an international consulting firm, looked at more than 200 cities across six continents, examining the cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, food, clothing, transport, household goods and entertainment to calculate an overall cost of living. The survey is used to help multinational companies determine compensation packages for employees living abroad. Mercer uses New York as the base city for the index and scores the cost of living there at 100 points. Cities scoring higher are more expensive; lower than 100, and they're cheaper. All cities included in the ranking are in comparison to New York, and currency is measured against the U.S. dollar.

"Since we're polling those places in a local environment, we're getting costs in a local currency," Powers says. "When the currencies fluctuate, that has a significant affect on costs." Powers says these cost fluctuations are making multinational companies reassess the need for expansion abroad.

"Companies have been much more guarded about their investments," she says. "While you can still argue that there is interest in emerging markets, the general pattern of money flowing into the same markets was interrupted when companies started looking at their money."

Johannesburg, South Africa (No. 143) bottoms out the complete list of cities with a score of 49.6. Also at the tail end are Monterrey, Mexico (No. 142), and Asuncion, Paraguay (No. 141).

Tokyo Steady, Shaky Everywhere Else

The main constant in these rankings, since Mercer's first set was released in 1994, is Tokyo's place at or close to the top. Osaka has only fallen outside the top 10, once, when it slipped to the No. 11 spot last year. While the value of the yen is strong against the dollar, Japan--and Tokyo in particular--has always featured prominently due to the high cost of international goods, says Mercer senior researcher Nathalie Constantin-Metral. One can count on Japan being expensive in good times and bad alike for the yen.

But there's no telling what will happen in a place like Moscow--which zoomed up to the top spot last year, and fell out of it this year. It will all depend, says Constantin-Metral, on the performance of Russia's currency. The ruble had been on a long, steady climb against the greenback as of March 2008; but it bottomed out at the beginning of March 2009. It's been on a recovery trajectory ever since, but still has a long way to go. Either way, the rankings make clear that the more the ruble slips, the less expensive a city Moscow becomes.

American cities, then, have more in common with a place like Moscow than anywhere in Japan. The more the dollar--and prices--move, the more or less expensive U.S. cities get, which means it's all up in the air as to what will happen over the year ahead. Tokyo and Osaka may be expensive, but at least everyone knows it for certain. Just about everywhere else, it seems, nobody knows for sure what the cost of living is like until the year is already in the rear-view mirror.

World's Top Five Most Expensive Cities To Live

1. Tokyo, Japan

2. Osaka, Japan

3. Moscow, Russia

4. Geneva, Switzerland

5. Hong Kong

Bizarro World: Billionaire gets advice 'from above'

Shari Arison (Photo Israel Sun)

We must indeed be living in a New Age when Shari Arison, Israel's richest woman and controlling shareholder of the country's second-largest bank, announces she has visions and receives messages "from above."

Well...isn't that what financial empires always look for--visionaries?

Arison reportedly set off an uproar in Israel after she revealed that information in an interview with Channel Two broadcast late on Saturday. An uproar? It's not like she claimed to see burning bushes in the stock market...did she?

"I get a picture, I can feel it. If it's fire, I feel like I'm burning. If people are dying I feel pain," she confirmed in an interview with Reuters.

Nevermind.

The Israeli-American Arison along with her brother inherited billions of dollars from her late father Ted Arison, who founded Carnival Corp, the world's biggest cruise ship operator. According to Forbes magazine, she's ranks at No. 109 among the world's 1, 225 billionaires in 2008 with a fortune of $5.2 billion. She is the controlling shareholder in Bank Hapoalim and controls Housing and Construction, Israel's biggest construction company.

Arison stressed that her visions do not interfere with the running of Hapoalim, in which she has no active role. (Is that good or bad?)

"The bank is managed very professionally, there's a chairman and a board and everything is done according to law. It's not my visions that run the bank, that's ridiculous ... there's nothing to be worried about," she said.

What's ridiculous? That she would have such visions, that her visions would run the bank, that she would tell the world about them, or that she would expect the public to believe her visions have nothing to do with how she runs her businesses and finances?

Shares of Hapoalim, Israel's second-largest bank, rose 1.6% on Sunday. Well, maybe people are more willing to embrace faith vs science in these uncertain economic times.

"When I talk about a vision in business I am talking about you can have a profit, you should be professional but you can give added value," Arison said.

Say what? I lost you there, my friend.

The central bank declined to comment on Arison's remarks and said she has not been contacted by them since the interview was aired. Yeah, they must loving this one.

She said these visions are meant to help lead the world elsewhere (where?). To this end, she is releasing her first book this week, entitled "Birth - When the Spiritual and the Material Come Together," which details her journey both spiritually and in business.

Oh...this is all about the book. There had to be a reason for her to come out with revelations about revelations.

Arison said the messages do influence her personal decisions regarding her assets. In the book she tells how she was on the verge of selling Housing and Construction when she received a message not to sell "because with this company I could a make a difference with sustainable building," she said.

How is that "message" any different from what a savvy businesswoman would tell herself when evaluating a deal?

Arison said she would not consider at this point selling her stake in Hapoalim or any of her other assets and is looking to invest in ventures in the fields of clean air and clean energy (not unless she gets word "from above" telling her to consider it). She already has set up a company to invest in clean water projects.

She begins the book with her premise that the world is "collapsing" because of broad-based greed. The emphasis of the book is that every individual has to take responsibility for making the world a better place.

I wonder how much of her $5.2 billion she uses to make the world a better place, though she's known in Israel for her philanthropy.

"I am aware of fact that in Israel there's a lot of cynicism, a lot of opposition ... I was very much aware that coming out with this book and my visions would create the same thing, cynicism and objection, until people understand."

At least she gets it.

She said two years ago she got a message that there would be an economic crisis and people would go crazy. (Is it crazy that I find that funny?) But after years of seeing catastrophes she now believes the world is moving towards a better future.

"For the past year I've been seeing peace and happiness," she said. "I don't know when that will happen. I know I have a role to tell people ... Everyone has to make it happen."

Well, things are bound to improve at some point...they always do...and then they turn to shit again.

It's the circle of life--right?--and we don't need a burning bush to tell us that.

Sources: Reuters, My Twisted Mind
Copyright © 2009

Stew of News - Gay marriage, death penalty, Jolie, Jonas Brothers, Craigslist

Gay marriage legal in New Hampshire

New Hampshire became the 6th state in the U.S. to allow gay marriage today when Gov. John Lynch signed the state's Sex Marriage Bill.

Maybe, by the time I reincarnate as a gay man not trapped in a woman's body it will be legal in, say, Texas. Ya think?

"Thumbs up" to the executioner

A convicted killer was executed Wednesday under Ohio's new "set to die" procedure. And what, you ask, is that? Well...after he received the initial dose of sedatives, the prison warden had to try to wake up him up by calling his name, shaking and pinching his shoulder to make sure he was unconscious and ready for the next round of lethal drugs--a paralytic and a heart-stopping drug. If not, a second dose of sedatives is injected. Executions had been on hold for several months in the U.S. while the Supreme Court considered whether lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment because of a man who remained conscious after the sedatives, which means he would've felt the painful effects of the other two drugs.

This dude was sentenced to die for the 1991 murder of woman he locked in the trunk of her car and burned alive. So what's a little pain during execution? He's lucky he wasn't burned at the stake, if you ask me.

Now, this one wasn't "set to die"

A woman who had been arrested and placed in the back of a police cruiser, a Ford Crown Victoria, was fatally burned Wednesday when another car slammed into the parked cruiser, igniting both vehicles and another cruiser in front, authorities said Wednesday according to an AP report.

So while the Ohio dude drifted into dreamland on valium and who knows what else, this woman, who apparently was pulled over for some traffic infraction, gets burned at the stake. Interesting...

Jolie named most powerful celebrity by Forbes

In its annual Celebrity 100 list, Forbes magazine named Angelina Jolie as the most powerful celebrity in the world. The star, who earned $27 million last year, knocked Oprah Winfrey, who earned $275 million, of the top spot, which the talk show host has held for the past two years. Madonna came in third.

Could anyone please explain to me exactly how Angelina Jolie is powerful? How does this power manifest itself through her? The kids? The lips? What's the source of this power? The womb? Inquiring minds want to know.

Jonas Brothers' homemade chastity belt

So the mother of the Jonas Brothers admits her sons "have desires" in the July issue of Good Housekeeping. The heartthrobs are virgins, so she says, but that doesn't mean they don't look at women (or men...). "They are men. They have desires. They have testosterone," Denise says of Kevin, 21, Joe, 19 and Nick, 16. "If they make a mistake, I'm not going to hate them. I don't think they're above or beyond being seduced."

--This is wrong on so many levels...are you kidding me? Virgins? Good Housekeeping? Wouldn't hate them? If seduced? By whom? Nine-year-old girls? WTF is she smoking? I say this is a job for the Law & Order SVU detectives...

What else is Craigslist good for these days?

A North Carolina man is accused of arranging to have his wife raped through personal ads on the Web site Craigslist, police said Wednesday in a statement.

The 25-year-old genius, of Kannapolis, North Carolina, was arrested in connection with the incident that occurred at his home early Sunday, CNN reported.

Police responded to the home at about 2:45 a.m. after receiving a 911 call indicating a male armed with a knife appeared in the couple's bedroom and sexually assaulted the man's wife.

Investigators became suspicious when they noticed no sign of forced entry in the house, but on Tuesday they found that the man "had responded to at least two personal ads on craigslist trying to arrange for someone to come to his home and have sex with his wife using some type of scare tactic.

Well, I say we have a strong contender for Sick Fuck of the Week here.

Source: Me and as noted
Copyright © 2009