Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We visited Italy, France and Monaco this summer and I was surprised that the prices overall were significantly less than the US.
Hotel rooms are definitely cheaper, the cost of food is significantly cheaper : a good croissant in Paris is 1.20 euros vs $5-$6 here at a comparable bakery. A scoop of icecream in Venice and Monaco is 3 euros vs $6-$7 here.
Restaurant food is almost half the price in Europe when you account for taxes and tips in the US ( not to mention you get better tasting food there).
I get the Covid stimulus packages passed in the US contribute to inflation but many European countries also passed those.
Why has inflation hit the US much harder?
1. If you’re paying 5-6 dollars for a croissant or $6-7 dollars for a scoop of ice cream in the US you’re drastically overpaying. Normal Americans are paying half of that (and probably getting better quality products.)
2. The Euro used to be worth 1.3-1.4 dollars and post Covid has been 1.06-1.10 so you’re getting a great deal when exchanging dollars to buy things in Euros.
3. Proportionally there are a lot more wealthy Americans who are willing to overpay for products and drive prices up
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We visited Italy, France and Monaco this summer and I was surprised that the prices overall were significantly less than the US.
Hotel rooms are definitely cheaper, the cost of food is significantly cheaper : a good croissant in Paris is 1.20 euros vs $5-$6 here at a comparable bakery. A scoop of icecream in Venice and Monaco is 3 euros vs $6-$7 here.
Restaurant food is almost half the price in Europe when you account for taxes and tips in the US ( not to mention you get better tasting food there).
I get the Covid stimulus packages passed in the US contribute to inflation but many European countries also passed those.
Why has inflation hit the US much harder?
1. If you’re paying 5-6 dollars for a croissant or $6-7 dollars for a scoop of ice cream in the US you’re drastically overpaying. Normal Americans are paying half of that (and probably getting better quality products.)
2. The Euro used to be worth 1.3-1.4 dollars and post Covid has been 1.06-1.10 so you’re getting a great deal when exchanging dollars to buy things in Euros.
3. Proportionally there are a lot more wealthy Americans who are willing to overpay for products and drive prices up
Anonymous wrote:You need to understand the difference between price gouging and inflation.
Anonymous wrote:We visited Italy, France and Monaco this summer and I was surprised that the prices overall were significantly less than the US.
Hotel rooms are definitely cheaper, the cost of food is significantly cheaper : a good croissant in Paris is 1.20 euros vs $5-$6 here at a comparable bakery. A scoop of icecream in Venice and Monaco is 3 euros vs $6-$7 here.
Restaurant food is almost half the price in Europe when you account for taxes and tips in the US ( not to mention you get better tasting food there).
I get the Covid stimulus packages passed in the US contribute to inflation but many European countries also passed those.
Why has inflation hit the US much harder?
Anonymous wrote:I just back from a month in Europe. We apparently stayed in very different places. Restaurants were probably 30% more for comparable basic meals than in the US. Moderately nice dining was sometimes roughly equal and sometimes twice as expensive. Accommodations were roughly the same cost as in the US. Rental cars were about twice as expensive.
In my experience, bakery and take-away food has always been less expensive over there than in the US. I suspect because it's so much more common, but I'm not an economist.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We visited Italy, France and Monaco this summer and I was surprised that the prices overall were significantly less than the US.
Hotel rooms are definitely cheaper, the cost of food is significantly cheaper : a good croissant in Paris is 1.20 euros vs $5-$6 here at a comparable bakery. A scoop of icecream in Venice and Monaco is 3 euros vs $6-$7 here.
Restaurant food is almost half the price in Europe when you account for taxes and tips in the US ( not to mention you get better tasting food there).
I get the Covid stimulus packages passed in the US contribute to inflation but many European countries also passed those.
Why has inflation hit the US much harder?
Inflation hit Europe harder! The dollar is really strong now so the exchange rates make it cheaper for Americans.
Anonymous wrote:We visited Italy, France and Monaco this summer and I was surprised that the prices overall were significantly less than the US.
Hotel rooms are definitely cheaper, the cost of food is significantly cheaper : a good croissant in Paris is 1.20 euros vs $5-$6 here at a comparable bakery. A scoop of icecream in Venice and Monaco is 3 euros vs $6-$7 here.
Restaurant food is almost half the price in Europe when you account for taxes and tips in the US ( not to mention you get better tasting food there).
I get the Covid stimulus packages passed in the US contribute to inflation but many European countries also passed those.
Why has inflation hit the US much harder?