Posts:
By Jack Salmon The U.S. is nearly alone in the world in taxing people based on citizenship rather than residence. An American who moves to Toronto, marries a Canadian citizen, raises a family there, works for a Canadian company and pays Canadian taxes will still spend...
Charlie Larga, or the collective of writers who use that name, seems to have been born around 1950, when the population of the United States was about 154 million. By 2020 it had more than doubled. The population of the world did even better, rising from approximately...
Robert handed Paola a five-dollar bill and tucked the tomatoes, avocados and flowers into his market bag. He had bought from her often enough that the exchange required little conversation. She named the price. He paid it. They smiled. Nothing about the purchase felt...
Economists have several ways of telling us whether we are prosperous. They can measure gross domestic product, average income, purchasing power, inflation and the price of a basket containing everything from breakfast cereal to a new refrigerator. The results are...
By Garry Vatcher When most people walk into the Esperanza Thrift Shop, they are looking for a bargain. Maybe it is a shirt, a set of dishes, a lamp, a book, or something for the kitchen. What they may not realize is that every item in the shop has a second purpose-and...
Donald Trump recently claimed that the European Union is robbing the United States. The alleged robbery consists of requiring American technology companies to obey European law while doing business in Europe. Google has just been fined €890 million, split between €460...
“That would never happen back home” is not necessarily an unfair thing for an expatriate to say. Sometimes something really does work better somewhere else. The problem begins when the place we left becomes the automatic standard for judging the place where we now...
By Garry Vatcher Renting an apartment in Cuenca can seem remarkably simple. You find a place you like, agree on the rent, hand over a deposit, sign a contract, and move in. Then something breaks. That is often when you discover that the relationship between a landlord...
If you are living in Ecuador on a Social Security check of, let's say, $2,000 a month, the arithmetic is reassuringly simple. The money arrives in dollars, your rent may be $400 or less, an almuerzo can still be found for about $3, and no foreign-exchange dealer takes...
Sometimes one of the clearest signs that you are beginning to belong in Cuenca is not when you know whom to ask for help. It is when a Cuencano assumes you might know the answer. Robert was leaving his building when Fernando stopped him near the entrance. “Roberto,...
By Rashmi J. Dalai Long before glitz and glamour came to accompany corporate packages and overseas retirements, Ernest Hemingway likened expats to addicts: “You’ve lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake foreign standards have ruined you. You drink yourself...
Many years ago, a young consultant and contractor found himself working in psychiatric hospitals in three very different places: Britain, Bermuda, the United States, and, much later, living in Ecuador. At first glance the four places had almost nothing in common....
By Garry Vatcher It is something none of us wants to do, but unfortunately, it is necessary. Getting the bill is usually the easy part. Paying it is not always quite so simple. In Ecuador, many bills, including IESS, utility, internet, phone can be paid at small...
There is an entire subgenre of Cuenca literature devoted to determining when a foreigner has finally arrived. You have really arrived when you stop complaining about the buses. You have really arrived when you stop converting every price into dollars, although that is...
When I arrived at JFK airport in New York on July 3rd, 1980, I had never crossed the Atlantic before. I had left England earlier that day and was on my way to what turned out to be a new life overseas. I remember looking around the airport and having a distinctly...
By Ross Roberts If you are moving to Cuenca from North America, you will quickly fall in love with the cobblestone streets, the $3 almuerzos, and the spring-like weather. You will not, however, fall in love with your shower on day one. In fact, after six months of...
The turning point in expat life is not when Cuenca changes. It is when the questions you ask begin to change. Beginning to belong in Cuenca often starts when the questions we ask begin to change. Margaret knew what the next sentence was going to be before anyone said...
I recently noticed a below the line comment describing the United States as a poor country. To me this seemed plainly wrong. The United States is not a poor country, but it is an extraordinarily rich country in which wealth is distributed so unevenly that millions of...
I was hanging out in a coffeehouse on San Sebastian Plaza, one cheery morning last week, lingering over a second cafe con leche and marveling at the comings and goings of busy people, surrounded by the comforting scent of freshly brewed coffee and the gentle hum of...
By Garry Vatcher People often ask me when they should obtain a power of attorney in Ecuador. My usual response is: when you get off the plane. That may sound dramatic, but Ecuador is a very rules-based society, and rules are rules. Becoming caught in both a personal...
Week of August 23
Ecuador’s economy grew 2% during the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to new Banco Central del Ecuador data.
Cuenca gets a prime view of next week’s deep partial lunar eclipse.
Ecuador’s economy grows 2% in the first half of 2026.
