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Comment by sivers | Hacker News Reader

One of my favorite links I've ever seen on the subject is this:

Top 15 Cheap, Safe and Friendly Countries

http://www.kimeshan.com/2013/07/11/cheap-safe-and-friendly-c...

Here are the top 15 cheapest, safest and friendliest countries:

    COUNTRY  /  RATING
    1. Macedonia 	0.99
    2. Georgia 	0.98
    3. United Arab Emirates 	0.82
    4. Morocco 	0.80
    5. Hong Kong 	0.75
    6. Montenegro 	0.71
    7. Malta 	0.68
    8. Taiwan 	0.67
    9. Ethiopia 	0.63
    10. Thailand 	0.62
    11. Estonia 	0.60
    12. Sri Lanka 	0.59
    13. Nepal 	0.55
    14. Bosnia And Herzegovina 	0.55
    15. Portugal 	0.46

(+ gregd, feel free to email me about this. I've been living outside the U.S. for years, and have applied for permament residency in 3 different countries. Happy to share any experiences and advice.)

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oh my, goes to show that statistics might have good numbers, but no meaning.

Macedonia? Georgia? My god, Georgia just had a war with Russia, is the second biggest target after the Ukraine/Krim.

Ethopia? WTF. If you want to live secure, have western healthcare, etc. 3rd world countries are some of the most expensive countries to live in. And Ehtopia is an authoritarian regime, which tends to blow violently once in a while.

Macedonia is actually much safer than anywhere you've been to in the US. It's also very laid back. It borders Greece and has very little to do with Russian politics.

So yeah, it is a very reasonable choice for some people.

That list looks awful. If you do want to go the scientific route, you'll have to work this out yourself, based on the metrics that are important to you. You can find individual indexes (Healthcare, Journalistic freedom, political neutrality, risk of war, risk of natural desasters, etc.), then weigh them as per your preference and calculate a total score. The outcome may surprise you :)

Safety is based on crime index in that report. Some of those countries are definitely in regions with political or geopolitical problems. Not somewhere I'd go with a family.

Also, cheap only matters if you plan to continue to work remotely. If you eventually want to work locally to be near colleagues, Ethiopian prices may be low, but Ethiopian wages are also.

Given that he has children, I'd also think that the education system is an important factor.

Wow, that is one of the craziest lists I have ever seen.

Several of the places there would be interesting to live (I have a soft spot for Georgia, for instance), but I wouldn't recommend them to somebody coming from the US and looking to settle in easily.

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