Singapore now world's most expensive city

[cif5000]

the cost of living has absolutely nothing to do with the standard of living

Eh... then how do you explain the following...

World's 10 most expensive cities to live in 2014
1. Singapore
2. Paris
3. Oslo, Norway
4. Zurich, Switzerland
5. Sydney
6. Caracas, Venezuela
6. Geneva, Switzerland
6. Melbourne
6. Tokyo
7. Copenhagen, Denmark

and the following list:
World's 10 least expensive cities to live in 2014
122. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
123. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
124. Panama City, Panama
124. Bucharest, Romania
126. Algiers, Algeria
127. Damascus, Syria
127. Kathmandu, Nepal
129. New Delhi
130. Karachi, Pakistan
131. Mumbai, India

In mathematical term, the correlation between cost of living and standard of living is very very positive.

They are all cities. The correlation may not be positive for smaller settlements.

Even when correlation is clearly positive, it may not be linear. i.e. once the standard of living is above a certain level, it will take a lot more $$$ just to improve it slightly.