Jake's View | Yes, Hong Kong’s an expensive city, but don’t put too much store by those cost of living surveys
Comparisons of costs for expatriate living in cities across the globe don’t always reflect the local reality – try eating noodles and taking the bus
According to the survey, a litre of petrol in Hong Kong costs US$2.13, 142 per cent higher than in New York. A cappuccino in Hong Kong costs US$4.77, 40 per cent more than in London, while beer at a local bar costs US$11.90, 41 per cent more than even in Luanda.
SCMP, December 13
Just what message we can take in from all these simplistic survey comparisons of expatriate living costs is a mystery to me, although I can understand why most of them are conducted.
ECA International, which sponsored this latest one, and does two of them a year, is a human resources consultancy (fancy name for a people broker) and gains publicity in its target client base by thus showing its knowledge of its business.
But I still say it is simplistic.
Take, for instance, this bit about petrol costing much more in Hong Kong than it does in New York. One reason is that we tax the stuff heavily, which the US government does not dare to do for fear of outright rebellion. We can thus have lower income taxes rates. How does this fit into ECA’s computations of comparative living costs?
I also cannot even imagine living in the US without owning a car. In many places I would be as badly stranded as on a desert island.
