[davidgay]

The problem is that you don't have to just find two numbers (interest rate, tax rate) for each location and year. You have to account for:

- different approaches to mortgages (fixed term vs not, different typical terms, etc)

- extremely different tax regimes (e.g., Switzerland has no property tax, does have a wealth tax, and adds to your income an estimated rental cost for the property)

And now once you've gathered all of that data, you get to figure out how to make it all comparable :)

[onlyrealcuzzo]

Great point -- but by taxes, I meant to include all that stuff. I guess that could get really tricky over time, since Switzerland--I'm guessing--introduced these laws within the last 30 years. But given that the economist article only covers like 30 countries, it doesn't seem like it's that much work. Maybe I'll take a stab at it.

Comparing them is a good point as well. The economist article doesn't go far enough in my opinion.

I'm interested mostly in mortgage payment vs rent. And mortgage payment vs income (after taxes).

Even income after taxes is a little tricky. Not sure if they're are any countries with REALLY high sales tax, but things like that could be worth considering.