Survey: Moscow is world's priciest city - Yahoo! News

A decade and a half ago, Moscow was the capital of the nation that controlled a vast East European empire.

That empire collapsed in the aftermath of repeated failures at reform, and an ad hoc experiment in nuclear power plant operation that saw part of the Ukraine contaminated with radioactive particles.

According to a new survey, Russia is the most expensive city in the world to live in now.
Survey: Moscow is world's priciest city - Yahoo! News:

Overall, foreign exchange rate fluctuations were behind the majority of the changes in ranking, but in Moscow's case, costs were buoyed by the surging price for large living accommodations. Prices for big houses rose some 50 percent over the past year, driven in large part by soaring demand from expats, Powers said.

'It reflects a much bigger demand for palatable housing for someone coming into Russia trying to replicate the housing they had at home,' she said.

Cities in China, China, not only recently - but still - a communist nation, also rose in the rankings from last year.

One thing about the survey is that it triest to help global corporations figure the cost of housing employees in foreign cities throughout the world. A big part of the housing cost for these people in Moscow was extensive renovations to bring Russian housing standards up to what they were used to, and competing for limited housing that alerady was. In other words, bad housing was plentiful, but international executives did not want to live in it.


Ironically, Russia made the news just last week for two things having to do with booze. One problem Russia has is a jaw-dropping alcoholism rate.

The other problem is that lots of people get killed their by poison in fancy bottles with fake brand labels. Unscrupulous organizations are counterfitting high quality booze with stuff that is not ecen really booze, just poison.

About 10 people per day die from being poisoned by this stuff. It soes not sound like many deaths, but when you multiply it by 365 days per year - it it.

Lets hope those executives with those expensives new homes do not run out to a shop down on the corner to buy something with which to celebrate their new digs.