Chicago now just as expensive as New York

I find it hard to believe, but the Economist says so:

On the other hand, the strengths of the dollar and the yen have made American and Japanese cities comparatively more expensive in the last five months. This accounts for Tokyo's rise to the top of the ranking and Osaka's surge to second place. But despite the fall of the euro, Western Europe still dominates the table and supplies seven of the top ten cities. Chicago, Los Angeles and New York are the dearest American cities, in joint 23rd position.

I've always noticed New York (at least Manhattan) to be outrageously over priced. And after five years in DC, I found Chicago thankfully cheap (of course I was using the beer and McDonald's index). So I'm shocked to see that Boston and D.C. are not on the list.

Tokyo is the most expensive city now. There just isn't any good news coming out of Japan, eh?