The Economist Intelligence Unit, a division of the Economist Magazine,  has released it’s annual survey that ranks the top 130 cities in the world by cost of living, and for 2005 Oslo was the most expensive and surprise, surprise, Tehran was the least expensive city to do business in. New York City was the most expensive city in the United States coming in at 27th position.

Latin America saw inflation hit their currencies and moved up the list while the United States saw a modest increase and most of it’s cities moved down the charts.

The 10 Most Expensive Cities in the World

1 Oslo, Norway
2 Tokyo, Japan
3 Reykjavik, Iceland
4 Osaka Kobe, Japan
4 Paris, France 
6 Copenhagen, Denmark
7 London, UK
8 Zurich, Switzerland
9 Geneva, Switzerland
10 Helsinki, Finland

The Economist  goes on further to explain how the cost of living is determined:

There are two major reasons why a city’s cost of living index will change over time: exchange rate movement and price movement. Since a common currency is required in making a comparative calculation all local prices are converted into dollars, which emphasises the role of currency movement. If, for example, a currency strengthens or inflation pushes the price of goods up, so the relative cost of living in that country will also rise.

 

In what has to be one of the most ridiculous court rulings I have ever heard of, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that Flight Attendants can compare their pay against the pilots. Let me guess this correctly, a flight attendant needs 6 weeks of training to be initially certified while a pilot needs years of training and experience to land a job with the major airlines. And the Canadian Supreme Court sees a correlation between the two.

If rulings like this continue, Canada is going to see a brain drain with only the parasites remaining as logical folks are going to be running from the country.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Tuesday that Air Canada’s flight attendants can compare their pay with that of pilots and ground crews to determine if they are being discriminated against because of gender.
The top court said it is fair to make the comparison, because the flight attendants, pilots and ground crews all work for the same organization in the same business.
Air Canada had argued that each of the groups is covered under a different collective agreement, so a comparison would not be valid. The top court rejected that view. via The Globe and Mail

For years Quantas has been given a near monopoly on the Sydney to Los Angeles route. Singapore Airlines has been actively trying to fly this route for ten years to no avail. But in  an interesting twist, Air Canada has been authorized to start flying this route.

Air Canada has announced plans to launch a daily service on the route with its new fleet of long-range Boeing 777s.
“We believe it’s time to get in there and compete,” said the airline’s Australian general manager, Jeannie Foster. Air Canada said a recent open skies treaty signed between the US and Canada would allow it to fly the previously barred route.
The announcement comes two days after the federal Tourism Minister, Fran Bailey, met Air Canada officials and opened a Tourism Australia office in Toronto. via the Sydney Morning Herald.

The door is still open for the Singapore Airlines to get attain this route, but the odds are severely diminished.

It looks like the opposition to needing passports at the Canadian border is having results.

Faced with growing opposition to a proposal requiring people to show passports or other similar IDs, the Bush administration will propose new forms of identification next spring, Homeland Security spokesman Jarrod Agen said.

It’s unclear what kind of an ID might be used, but Agen said the government is looking for ways to make the new card easy to obtain and carry.

“We’ve heard and certainly recognize the concerns that folks don’t want this delaying them or creating problems along the border,” Agen said. via USA Today

As the perks of traveling slowly disappear, and the airplane resembles a greyhound bus with wings, Air Canada is not getting rid of pillows and blankets like other airlines such as Delta have.

They are charging for them. The Canadian $2.00 ($1.50 US) kit will include a lightweight blanket and inflatable pillow. And the bonus is, you can keep them.