I own a bit of farm land and a cement house in India. It probably earns 2k per year, with in PPP dollars is worth xk in India. But the value it serves is much higher. It serves as an escape plan. As the west gets increasingly unaffordable, I have a place that I can go where I can fit in an find a different life. I can periodically evaluate where it’s better for me to be. My wife is not Indian so there is integration friction, which makes it a hard no for now, but the calculation is continually being done as all the constraints refactor.
My wife has US citizenship. If Canada shits the bed we have a easy landing there with an expedited green card path for me, and that’s worth paying expat tax filing fees in perpetuity.
Geohedging is happening all over. Lisbon is attracting remote workers at the chagrin of locals affordability until it becomes too expensive and the labour network shifts somewhere else. Dubai is different as the locals will be the richest, at least until the black gold runs out of utility.
The consequence of a borderless world is that we can go anywhere, theoretically. But the actual borders are less tangible now, they refactor based on your passport power, birthright and ability to pay to play.
I predict geohedging will becomes more commonplace for the next 100 years until we reach the great equilibrium being Location Neutral or we are go nuclear.
This used to be the domain of the business, think outsourcing. But then remote work and the gig economy unlocked it for the individual as well, but in reverse. Instead of looking for cheap labour to increase profits. It’s looking for cheap cost of living to increase adjusted income. Both are looking at reducing fixed cost while keeping revenue neutral.
Use examples of greek islands, fallout shelters elsewhere.