So where do you want to live?

Mala recently brought up the issue of vacation time discrepancies between Europe and the US. On a related note, USB, a Swiss company, recently released a report entitled “Prices and Earnings: A comparison of purchasing power around the globe.” Definitely worth a look (it is a PDF file).

I can spend hours perusing the data, such as how much are rents in different cities, what are the average salaries, how much does the upkeep of a car cost, etc.

Here are some tips:

If you like your vacation time, you should head to Frankfurt, Barcelona, Athens, Rio de Janeiro or Lima, where there are on average 30 days of paid vacation per year. However, in Rio and Lima you have many more working hours per year than in the European cities. In fact, Paris has 26 days of vacation, but the lowest amount of working hours per year (1,561). Copenhagen was right behind with 28 days of vacation and only 1,658 work hours per year. Lima compares with 2,152 hours per year. Vacation lovers need to stay away from Hong Kong where there are only 8 days of vacation, yet the highest number of work hours (2,398).

Republicans should stay away from Copenhagen, Brussels, and Frankfurt where they have the highest taxes and social security contributions (respectively 44%, 38%, and 36%). Instead they should head to Caracas or Bangkok (9% and 4%). Or better yet, Dubai where there are no taxes.

The most expensive city? Oslo, followed by Hong Kong (no wonder they have to work so much), Tokyo, New York, and Zurich.

Cheapest? Karachi, Kiev, Buenos Aires, and Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Although I am not sure how many people would want to live in Karachi right now.