Healthcare costs an absolute fortune. If you're not paying it all out-of-pocket, it's being paid by insurance with big premiums from your paycheck. If you can't afford the full cost because you're too poor, middle-class people are subsidizing it for you from their paychecks. The middlemen (mostly insurance companies) are profiting hugely on the whole population here.
Housing costs a fortune thanks to America's NIMBYism, zoning laws, and lack of construction.
Finally, everyone needs an expensive car and all the costs associated (insurance, fuel, repairs), and I'm guessing America has the most lane-miles per capita of roads to maintain of any country (maybe Canada competes here).
All these costs add up, and mean that American workers need a ton of money just to have a basic lifestyle.
Personally, I think this is going to end up making American labor extremely uncompetitive on the global market. It already has in many industries, but it's just going to get worse, and other countries are catching up in development or have passed the US.
>Personally, I think this is going to end up making American labor extremely uncompetitive on the global market.
As long as most countries depend on the US and most international transactions and lending is done in USD, that does not matter. US can buy in dollars and then print some to cover their debts.
The only threat to this model is OPEC selling oil in other currencies and BRICS countries establishing a parallel financial system. But then, that's why US has the army and the three letter agencies, to assure against that.
That doesn't make American labor competitive at all, on the global market. It just props up labor prices domestically, so servers can get paid a fortune (in global terms) so they can afford a shitty overpriced apartment and a personal car, whereas servers in other countries just walk or bicycle to work and get inexpensive healthcare and don't need as much money to live. But no one is going to pay American labor rates for manufactured goods, unless it's for F35s. So in the end, most Americans are just working at bullshit jobs, and the whole economy is propped up by its currency being the reserve currency. That's not what I'd consider a good long-term strategy for your society.
Cost of living in the US seems low to me. I'm comparing to my travels in Europe and living in Canada. This is without taking into account that people earn more and pay less tax in the States.
Not sure where you got the idea that the US isn't expensive after traveling to Europe. Hotels, restaurants, and transportation are significantly cheaper in western Europe than in America, and those are the main costs you'll see as a tourist.
Not to mention food. Eating at a brasserie in Paris, two meals, two drinks was about 24-27 euros. When we came back from our trip we ate at a “French” restaurant in our town serving the exact same food and it was close to $80 plus 20% for a tip. Two meals and two drinks. Not to mention the quality was much less even though it’s highly reviewed.
America is expensive in a lot of ways you get much less than what you pay for.
> we ate at a “French” restaurant in our town serving the exact same food and it was close to $80 plus 20% for a tip
That's because French restaurants in US are considered fancy. They are always expensive. But if you compare say Thai restaurants, the prices are similar (I just did -- curry near me in suburban Paris €13.5, curry in suburban NJ $15+tax+tip).
They exaggerated, but not by much. You can easily find brasseries in Paris with a lunch menu for 15-20 euros. The catch is that you have to eat during lunch time, they are typically not open through the day. Dinners are more of course.
We really do live on different planets if you really think those prices are real. I never paid prices anything like that in various countries in central Europe, and I sure as hell didn't go to McDonald's. But if I had, a typical meal there is about 10 Euros or so in Germany. What the heck are you ordering, their most expensive bottles of wine or something? Or are you going to the most exclusive restaurants in these cities?
Avg wage is higher than most countries on the planet. High cost of living in tier 1 (international) cities. Not all parts of America are expensive, just the parts most people prefer to live in.
