[extropy-chat] Seven cents an hour?

[Rik van Riel]

On Sat, 12 Nov 2005, Alfio Puglisi wrote:
> On 11/12/05, Joseph Bloch <transhumanist at goldenfuture.net> wrote:
> > I've always wondered about those statistics, which say that people in
> > under-developed countries make $x an hour. Do those figures take into
> > account the buying power of a dollar in that country?
> 
> They don't. And, as you say, taking into account purchasing power
> makes those figures more reasonable.

Not really.

If you've ever lived in a poorer country, you will know
that most people simply have way less than in rich
countries.

Cost of living at their style of living is cheaper, but
that isn't by choice.  It is because they cannot afford
the style of living that many of them would like to be
able to afford.

Having said that, many consumers in rich countries also
cannot afford the style of living they enjoy, and simply
pile up debt...

-- 
"Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place.
Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are,
by definition, not smart enough to debug it." - Brian W. Kernighan