On hols in the states and whilst in Santa Barbara I thought I would call into the Ducati dealers for a browse. Ended up picking up 3 t shirts for the price of one in the UK, the DVT S is $19800 equivalent to around £12500 not to mention petrol at $3.15 a gallon!!! I would of loved to of bought one of their biking jackets but alas non fitted!, might of at the start of the holiday but no chance now ! So far only seem one on the road which was easy to spot as they stand out a mile amougst all the Harley's, can't wait to pick mine up when I get back, just got to content myself with the Camero convertible I,m driving around in the meantime.
Afraid it does not - never can understand how their economics works - I go all over the world for work and USA - 3 or 4 times a year. The average wage in USA is much more than UK - but the issue in USA is if you are not working or sick. USA - typical Engineer is between $70,000 to $100,000 - UK - £25,000 to £45,000 So approx 50% more Housing is less (half) Food is about same in supermarket Eating out 1/2 to 2/3rds UK Cars and Bikes 2/3rds Medical bills - HUGE!!
Have to say I disagree. Maybe in your sphere the wages are higher but I have found that as a rule the man on the streets wages are lower. Housing costs, like anywhere, is dependant on location. The boonies is cheap. The city is expensive. Eating out is cheaper I agree, but the quality of fare is far inferior to Europe. Americans don't get "quality". For them pile it high and sell it cheap is their mantra. Occasionally you may find something edible. Only occasionally mind you, and then it costs more than here. Car and bike costs..........have you factored in the taxes they pay? I did the exercise on a bike recently. On the face of it the USA price was a lot cheaper than the UK, but by the time you added in all the taxes etc it was around the same price. We include taxes in our sales price. Americans don't. Things are not always what they seem. And like you I travel the world and do 5-6 trips to the US (last trip took in Feb/Mar took in 8 states)
I know what our USA factories pay its workers and its much more than the factories around me (South Wales) pay workers We have plants in 3 locations in NA and the operators range between $12 and $20 per hour - depending on job and experience. Toolmakers around $25 to $28 an hour. That's much more than the minimum wage - which is all the factories around with me pay for operators. Toolmakers are £12 to £15. I guess it depends where you live in UK..
Like I said, it's all relative. Wages and the general cost of living in South Wales is always going to be a lot lower than places like London and Manchester. Same goes for the US.
Ps.....a friend of mine in Pennsylvania recently bought his wife Fiat 500 (nothing special about it). It cost the equivalent of GBP£30k.
Good point. The quality of food in Europe ranges from good to excellent; in USA it ranges from poor to garbage. American caterers seem to think they can make up for poor quality by serving double-sized portions. As you rightly say, good quality food is available in America, in places, but only as a specialised item at a premium price. I say this based on only a limited number of visits though.
Where I live we get charged a yearly tax of about 4% per $100.00 of the value of each vehicle we own, this on top of the original sales tax on the vehicle when it was purchased. The food issues revolve around profit... a few eateries are going back to locally sourced, and organic ingredients that are prepared properly (the "mom and pop" model of privately owned eateries from 50+ years ago) but when it comes to corporate eateries its the same model, cheap ingredients that can be served quick. its an unfortunate fact that hormone injected meats, and GMO produce have inundated the US. Add to it the government involvement on how food is processed to comply with early ideas of healthy eating (i.e. low fat high carb) enriched flour which turns to sugar, high fructose corn syrup,aspartame, its all a mess, and we are paying for it now with weight gain and diabetes. Diet sodas, and antibiotics that kill your natural digestive bacteria in your stomach. These are all examples of reactive legislation, government oversight (intrusion) corporate influence on legislation etc etc... a sad state for sure. Luckily some are waking up. I predict a renaissance of sorts on the horizon for the US regarding small and local businesses, the underground push for organically grown foods and the turn away from GMO produce has already been underway for a while.
