Foreign investors pondering a plunge into Latin America will note with interest Mercer’s latest cost-of-living study, which confirms São Paulo as the most expensive city in all the Americas and high-altitude La Paz as the cheapest.

Of course, cost of living is just one of many factors that go into decisions about allocating staff and resources – not least the level of investment risk, which is still high in a region that sees its shares of coups, caudillos and nationalisations.

Read more: http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2010/06/30/rough-needs-editing-sw/

This post was submitted by mostBlog.

I always thought that a sewer drain is suppost to collect the water that builds up around it. Well, it seems that I was wrong! The local authorities in Bucharest have found a way to get the old “hole in the ground” wrong. The pictures were not taken in the same day.

1.) Sydney Tower

2.) Sydney Theatres

3.) Sydney Beaches

4.) Sydney Wildlife World

5.) Chinatown

See them all here: http://www.overseasattractions.com/images/logo.jpg

The number one spot goes to none other than the Greeks who, according to a study by market research group ERC, smoked over 3,000 cigarettes per head in 2006. Here’s how the top 10 fared:

1. Greece
2. Macedonia
3. Russia
4. Czech Republic
5. Slovenia
6. Spain
7. Japan
8. Ukraine
9. Bulgaria
10. Moldovia

Read more: http://www.gadling.com/2007/05/21/which-country-smokes-the-most-heres-thetop-10/

NEW DELHI: Despite its shaky empirical foundations, the myth of the Great Indian Middle Class persists. A new Asian Development Bank report lauds the rise of the Indian middle class and projects it as the engine of global growth.

However, according to the definition used in the report itself, the vast majority of this middle class earns between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 per person per month. Only 0.0009% of Indians earn more than Rs 10,000 per month.

The ADB’s Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2010 report released this week has a special chapter on the Rise of Asia’s Middle Classes.

Bolivia

Guoliang Tunnel in Taihang mountains (China)

Read more: http://www.pixyard.com/_Top_5_most_dangerous_roads_of_the_world-2

NEW DELHI: The national capital has emerged as the most expensive city in the country for expatriates in terms of cost of living, a survey by global HR consultancy Mercer said.

However, the cost of living in Indian cities still happens to be cheaper than 84 cities in other parts of the world, the ’2010 Cost of Living Survey’, which covers 214 such locations across five continents, stated.

Read more: New Delhi most expensive Indian city for expats: Survey – Delhi – City – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/New-Delhi-most-expensive-Indian-city-for-expats-Survey-/articleshow/6106802.cms#ixzz0x3EY04G7

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Most (ˈmost; German: Brüx) is a the capital city of the Most District, situated between the Czech Central Mountains and the Ore Mountains, approximately 77 km (48 miles) northwest of Prague along the Bílina River and southwest of Ústí nad Labem.

1. SOMALIA

2. CHAD

3. SUDAN

4. ZIMBABWE

5. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

6. AFGHANISTAN

7. IRAQ

8. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

9. GUINEA

10. PAKISTAN

11. HAITI

12. IVORY COAST

13. KENYA

14. NIGERIA

15. YEMEN

16. BURMA

17. ETHIOPIA

18. EAST TIMOR

Read more: http://www.chilloutpoint.com/featured/60-most-failed-countries-of-the-world-postcards-from-hell.html