Need localPosition.x in world units.

Hey guys, quick simple question (and I'm sure there's a simple solution but I can't quite get my brain around it, despite hounding the script reference and UA...)

Here's some js psuedocode:

 var child : Transform;
 var parent : Transform;
 
 child.parent = parent;
 child.localPosition = Vector3(2, 3, 4);
 parent.localScale = Vector3(0.5, 0.5, 0.5);

I need some way to get child's local position, but in world coordinates. In this case, child.localPosition.x will return 2. What I need is a function that would return 1 (the 'actual distance' the object is displaced along the x axis from its parent.)

Oh yeah, I need this to work no matter how deep the ancestry of the child.

Thanks fellas!

(Semi-related fiery explodey goodness for your trouble: woohoo!)