Currency arbitrage makes Americans think many countries are inexpensive

Life is not inexpensive in the local currency earned by the local population. Some places are inexpensive to Americans due to the strong U.S. dollar and currency conversion into the local currency.

Read the whole thread on X – the experience you have as a visitor to, say, a neighborhood of Mexico City, is equivalent to visiting a neighborhood in say, Seattle, and thinking you have seen the United States.

When Americans visit some other country and have a great time, they're often using their high USD-denominated incomes to buy some of the absolute best of what that country has to offer.

Fair to enjoy it, but one should recognize it's not a median experience for actual citizens.

— Alan Cole (@AlanMCole) June 13, 2024