Surely you jest!

What has always amazed me, and continues to amaze me, is how amazed some Australians are at the fact that we pay more for stuff than people overseas. 

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this article here. 

To summarise, people think that we pay too much for technology in Australia. 

I like cheap stuff too. I mean, I wouldn't complain if things, including technology, were cheaper. That's probably because I don't own a store that sells such things. 

Which is the point exactly.

It costs money to run these stores. If we assume that rent costs are constant between Australia and America, Australia sells far less of pretty much anything than the equivalent American store. Thus, these costs are then covered by selling things for higher prices.

Not exactly a huge leap in logic, but some people seem to struggle with it. 

Economies of scale. Google it. Or something. 

Granted, for things that don't require physical stores, like downloadable software, I think we sometimes do pay too much for. 

However, there is also something called purchasing power parity. A dollar here does not necessarily buy the same amount of stuff as a dollar elsewhere. 

Which is why I find the DVD thing in the article idiotic. Wow, we pay three bucks more for a DVD here than they do in America!

There are a myriad of factors that could cause price discrepancies. Economies of scale, for one. Purchasing power parity, for another. The list goes on. Taxes. Import costs. Domestic demand. Which is why I find it stupid that the article complains about a couple of bucks difference in DVD prices.

I love that this is how I spend my Friday nights. I am beyond help.

Word of the Day: Idiotic