Prices in Other Countries (split from Gallery thread)

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Amigo22 said:
Awesome, thanks Christina :)

@ Sam - my PC is better - it was new in October last year and it's a mid-range model so it cost approx $6,000 :D

$6,000!!!! :eek: Wow, that's a lot. I just got a new one in January and it was only around $1,000.

Anyway, back on topic, I'm glad you could see the pics and that everyone liked them. I don't think you'll be dissapointed when you get to see it!
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Re: Gallery

Oh, I thought Amigo meant American dollars cause I figured that Australians used another type of currency besides dollars. That means that 1 American dollar is approximately equivalent to 6 Australian dollars. So if I go to Australia, a pack of gum is going to cost me $6.00. :D That's interesting, but this has become completely off topic so I'll make a new thread of it. We can compare how much things will cost us in other countries. :D

How much does a car run, Amigo? An average priced vehicle, lets say a Ford Mustang, runs about 20K-25K in the USA, so I'm guessing that would be 120K-150K in Australia. Is that about right? :eek:
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
Even worse, I know that a pair of shoes that cost around 50$ here in the US cost around 600$ in the Czech republic.:eek:
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Re: Gallery

Wildcat said:
How much does a car run, Amigo? An average priced vehicle, lets say a Ford Mustang, runs about 20K-25K in the USA, so I'm guessing that would be 120K-150K in Australia. Is that about right? :eek:

I'm not sure since I can't drive, but the petrol prices are steadily increasing, and servicing is really expensive. My brother makes anyone who travels in his car contribute towards petrol.

@ Tony - my last pair of casual shoes cost over $100, but they're leather so that's probably why. I shouldn't really have bothered buying that pair because the only times I wear shoes now is when I'm at work, and I have a separate pair for that.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Re: Gallery

I find your post interesting for a couple of reasons. First, I regularly wear leather shoes and my most recent pair cost me a whole $30. :D Secondly, we call it gas, not petrol. And lastly, we generally know what stuff cost in the US even if we can't buy it, which seems to differ from Australia.
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Re: Gallery

yardgames said:
I find your post interesting for a couple of reasons. First, I regularly wear leather shoes and my most recent pair cost me a whole $30. :D Secondly, we call it gas, not petrol.

People call it gas here too. And one of the differences I noticed when we moved here is how expensive stuff is here compared to NZ, it's so annyoing :mad:
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Gas is really expensive here too Amigo. I paid $3.05/gal the other day--and that's the cheap stuff! It's rediculous. :rolleyes: I guess it's not just in the US though. My mom said it was like $1.00/gal only 10 years ago. In another 10 years cars won't even use gas, which will be good (for the environment and for expense.)
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
In the future, cars will run on salt water.:D Which is a good thing, since there's so much and it would be probably ten cents a gallon to fill your car up. Or cars will run on corn.:eek: :D
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Here they're talking about gas-powered cars being replaced in the future with electric cars that will need charging overnight.
 

simon_4420

New member
Wildcat said:
Gas is really expensive here too Amigo. I paid $3.05/gal the other day--and that's the cheap stuff! It's rediculous. :rolleyes: I guess it's not just in the US though. My mom said it was like $1.00/gal only 10 years ago. In another 10 years cars won't even use gas, which will be good (for the environment and for expense.)


You think that is expensive???:D Thats just about £2 (?). We have to pay £5 per gallon so thats about $10:mad: ! Its set to rise even more though
 

Alfista Junior

New member
All Americans think their gas is expensive because it has strongly increased during the last few months. But what they don't know is that it's something really expensive in Europe and this for awhile. In France it's above $7 per gallon. (It's expensive but as we pay in EURO, it could have been more expensive for us if the EUR/US DOLLAR rate hasn't climbed from 0.75 to 1.30 during the last years. Without that it would be about 9€ per gallon. Indeed the oil price is given in US DOLLARS)
Complaining about a rate of $3 per gallon is really really funny. Maybe we had such a rate in the 60s.:D

But finally, low prices Americans had during the past decades are responsible for the current american car industry crisis. The United States have always developed cars without thinking about the fuel economy because of the low cost of gas, which seems logical. In Europe it's different we are nowadays able to produce 200 hp from a 4cyl. 2.0l (without any turbo), which means power and economy. We have no 8cyl engine producing 250hp, it would be a joke for us. (It becomes a joke for GM ;-) 'by the way GM better not buy the Alfa Romeo car brand, I 'm gonna bite!', 'Get back!').

The problem is that oil will become rare and honestly this issue will become bigger and bigger. For the moment we have no reliable source of power able to replace oil. And even if we find something for cars, (after all we could use electric cars), think about airplanes and rockets...
Welcolme in the biggest regression we have never had. I know that for Mr Bush, power infinite, natural ressources are infinite, nature is infinite and the world is infinite...but for others countries, scientists have to think about how to deal with the actual stakes to prevent us from a real crisis.


IN PRETZEL WE TRUST
It's my religion and I hope no one will withdraw my post which amounts to offend my faith..
A passage of Our Holy Book:

'November 2004, a blind population asked the devil for staying in their home, they were fooled because they did not see, they did not know. And the rest of the Village were crying and yelling "How can you do THAT!". And we nowadays know that this population had also became deaf. However we should not blame these people for that, the devil has the power, the power of words which have scared them before.'

PS: I like the US and that's why I'm so touched and disapointed. I hope people will live in freedom and peace in the future.. Sadly it's not the case of some other people.
 

NeCoHo

Retired Mod
You make a lot of good points, Alfista. It's sad bt true, the US just figures that since we had such a low gas price (compared to other countries) we just made all te gas-guzzlers we could, and Europe wouldn't buy many cars from us because of that.

And while the US stands for Freedom and oppretunity, Many of it's own people's jobs are being outsourced to other places, and rather then an exporting economy, we are turning into an importing economy, relying on little, poor nations for our goods and products, hell, you try to call Dell for a computer problem, you get a guy in India with an accent thick as molasses (I've always wanted to use that phrase) who you can barely understand, and end up hanging up the phone and experimenting with the computer until it does work, or it explodes...(partially true story)

By the way, I'm getting an Xbox 360 soon. :) They cost about $400, what do they cost elsewhere? I can't wait... I've been doing odd jobs for my grandparents and uncle (painting/polishing his boat...), so just a week or two more... :D
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Alfista Junior said:
All Americans think their gas is expensive because it has strongly increased during the last few months. But what they don't know is that it's something really expensive in Europe and this for awhile. In France it's above $7 per gallon.

That is really expensive. I wonder if the price is so high in Europe to discourage people from driving due to the severe traffic congestion in. Similiar to how they've increased the price of cigarettes in recent years here in the US--it doesn't cost any more to make the cigarettes, but they've raised the price significantly in an effort to discourage people from smoking.

I'm also wondering how the income of people in Europe compares to people's income in the US. Is it possilbe that, considering all all the factors and the cost of living, people earn more money in Europe? I would think that you all would have to earn more given how expensive everything seems to be. Otherwise, no one would be able to afford to live. For example, back in the sixties my dad said that he paid $5,000 for a brand new car. Today, most new cars cost $20,000+. However, $5,000 seemed like a lot of money back in the sixties because people didn't earn as much as they do now. The cost of living has increased due to inflation, therefore, people have to earn more money to be able to afford to live. So, while $7-10 for gas seems extremely expensive, is it possilbe that Europeans make more money than people in the US so they can afford to pay these severe prices? Maybe not physically (as in actual dollar amounts), but based on inflation, price of things, etc. in Europe. Does that make any kind of sense at all? :D I really have no idea how much Europeans make vs Americans so don't kill me if I'm way off here. :D
 

Alfista Junior

New member
Wildcat said:
That is really expensive. I wonder if the price is so high in Europe to discourage people from driving due to the severe traffic congestion in. Similiar to how they've increased the price of cigarettes in recent years here in the US--it doesn't cost any more to make the cigarettes, but they've raised the price significantly in an effort to discourage people from smoking.

No, cigarettes and oil are totally different. The price of cigarettes is high because it endangers our health. And in France, cigarettes prices are also high because of the Welfare System we have. Our welfare system allows us to be cured whithout paying (sounds weird, I know). Considering the government pay for, he wants to prevents us from suffering from this kind of disease because of their cost.

Oil issue has other roots. First oil is not infinite (30 years remaining which means 20 before the price rises such a unaffordable level). So in the US, the government begins to realize it and does what we have done some decades ago: reducing the consumption. In Europe, we also have a high price in order to prevent variations and to keep control, to have time to adapt. Moreover, more the oil is rare more it's expensible. Others reasons are oil companies are currently in investment time (partly because they need money to fetch the oil in less accessible areas) and countries like China have nowadays a huge need of oil because of their growth.

In the US, the price was low, because they initially thought that it will increase your consumption in other fields.

Oh, I forget our gas is more expensive because the quality is better : RON are 95 or 98 in Europe and around 85 I suppose in the US.


Wildcat said:
I'm also wondering how the income of people in Europe compares to people's income in the US. Is it possilbe that, considering all all the factors and the cost of living, people earn more money in Europe? I would think that you all would have to earn more given how expensive everything seems to be. Otherwise, no one would be able to afford to live.

So, while $7-10 for gas seems extremely expensive, is it possilbe that Europeans make more money than people in the US so they can afford to pay these severe prices? Maybe not physically (as in actual dollar amounts), but based on inflation, price of things, etc. in Europe. Does that make any kind of sense at all? :D I really have no idea how much Europeans make vs Americans so don't kill me if I'm way off here. :D

I think we earn less than the Americans because our income taxes are between 20 and 45 % (I'm not sure, but the range is good), but we have a welfare system and a job benefits program for unemployed workers.. But the raw wages (without tax) are probably the same.
But in my country, people think twice before taking their car considering the price of oil.
The difference is in Europe, the first question a guy ask the salesman before buying a car is "what about the fuel economy?". It's obsessional. Really.
Let's compare cars from the US and from Europe.

-Chevy Suburban : 12 miles/gallon (19 litres/100km) (your system is weird. I had to do a conversion ;))

-Peugeot 407 (french car) : 33 miles/gallon (7 litres/100km)

Last thing but not least : 85% of our cars are diesel. Gasoil is cheaper and fuel consumption is lower. Our car industries have accomodated with all those stuffs, US car industries seem not to be ready for a quick shift like that.
 
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