From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: US as No. 1 (3 data books)
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 17:17:15 GMT

In article <1993Jan26.120132.21873@cas.org> jac54@cas.org () writes:
>In article <rdavis.728008225@connie.de.convex.com> rdavis@convex.com (Ray Davis) writes:
>>Adrian.Waterworth@newcastle.ac.uk (Adrian Waterworth) writes:
>>
>
>	This argument ignores local variations in standards of
>	living in the U.S.  I have visited California several
>	times and the standard of living in the urban areas is
>	very high.  I also lived in Iowa for some time and the
>	standard of living was abyssmal in comparison to anywhere
>	else I have lived.  The quality of produce was poor and the
>	selection limited.  The cultural life of the area was moribund,
>	we had to drive 45 miles to the nearest decent library.
>	Columbus is a big improvement on Des Moines but still a
>	long way behind urban areas of Europe that I have lived in.

>	As far as quality is concerned, I think you have that mixed up.
>	My impression of American consumer goods is that quality is not
>	that great and it is frequently sacrificed to keep prices low
>	while adding "features" that have no use.  Quality of U.S.
>	products can be very good, but the range of quality is far
>	greater than one could get away with in Europe.  Did you
							 ^^^^^^^
>	ever wonder why European products have been making so much
	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>	headway in the U.S.?  Helpful hint: they're not cheaper.
	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

In many cases, they appear to to be cheaper here than in Europe, however.

reposted from rec.motorcycles.

The K75 (bare K75) is a loss leader. The K75S is not; you pay over $2,000
for the fairing, which is the only difference between the two.

Some more prices:

model   german price    in US$          us price        %diff
R100R   13,950 DM       $9,486          $8,240          15%
R100GS  15,350 DM       $10,438         $7,790          34%
R100RT  18,500 DM       $12,580         $9,340          35%
K1100LT 23,500 DM       $15,980         $14,890         7%
K1      26,950 DM       $18,326         $14,290         28%
K75     14,700 DM       $10,300         $6,590          56%
K75S    17,300 DM       $11,764         $9,290          27%

Prices in France;

Brand       model                new      1992     1991     1990    1989
BMW
            750K75              $9,964   $7,679   $6,607   $5,893   $5,357 
            750K75RT           $11,893   $9,643   $8,750     N/A      N/A
            1000R100GS         $10,393   $8,036   $6,964   $6,071   $5,357 
            1000R100RT         $11,000   $8,750   $7,679   $6,964   $6,250 
            1000K1ABS          $16,393  $12,143  $10,536   $9,464     N/A
            1000K100LT           N/A       N/A    $9,464   $8,214   $7,679 
            1100K1100LT        $14,714  $12,679     N/A      N/A     N/A

Ducati
            750SS Half fairing  $9,696   $7,143   $6,607     N/A     N/A
            750SS Full fairing $10,232   $7,500     N/A      N/A     N/A
            900SS Half fairing $12,071   $9,643     N/A      N/A     N/A
            900SS Full fairing $12,313   $9,821     N/A      N/A     N/A
            900SS Superlight   $13,804  $10,893     N/A      N/A     N/A


All the prices are considerably higher in Europe than in the US. Nice of the
Europeans to subsidize our life-style. The Ducs seem especially high for the 
smaller models.

>	Ah yes, the wonderful Colby Longhorn cheese for example,
>	chanterelles and edible boletes are available on every
>	street corner in the U.S.  Spare parts for my De Vilbiss
>	airbrushes are unobtainable over here, try finding Humbrol
>	paints without having to offer up the first-born male child.
>	Going back to food, the U.S. offers some of the worst sausage
>	it has ever been my dubious privilege to taste.  Oscar Meyer
>	would cause riots in the streets in Poland, never mind Germany.

I think the Polish and Germans have found other reasons to riot in the past
few years.

In any event, I doubt one would go to a butcher shop to buy those Oscar Meyer
products. Those are pre-packaged items. The sausages sold at the butcher shops
in our area seem to satisfy the large number of European immigrants that we
seem to be getting in our area (particularly Russian, Polish, French, and 
German) of San Francisco.
Mike
-- 
Disclaimer - These opinions are not so much opinions, as pearls of wisdom. Any-
one disagreeing is obviously either a) a snivelling, whining, mentally-
deficient, weak-willed, inconsequential, namby-pamby tool of some vague but
conveniently defined conspiracy, or b) my wife.
Newsgroups: sci.econ