Where it becomes a pain in the ass (or a nice bonus, depending) is when you’re actually spending money via exchange rate. I tried not to buy much in Germany when I was there, because the prices in Euro were number-equivalent with the sorts of prices I’d see in dollars in the US….but of course, the Euro was worth ~1.25-1.30 dollars at the time.

It was real hell as an American in London. Lunch for two at Pret a Manger ran about 15 quid. Not too bad, until you realize that’s 30 dollars US for two sandwiches, a bag of chips and two drinks.

Where it becomes a pain in the ass (or a nice bonus, depending) is when you’re actually spending money via exchange rate. I tried not to buy much in Germany when I was there, because the prices in Euro were number-equivalent with the sorts of prices I’d see in dollars in the US….but of course, the Euro was worth ~1.25-1.30 dollars at the time.

They’ve been taking advantage of he strong Euro and Pound as compared to the US dollar and shipping more Wii Fit, etc to other areas. Simply because in the states it sells for less, AND the dollar is lower, so it’s simple economics.

However this shhould be about Left 4 dead, and how awesome it is going to be. The answer?

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That much.

I think that we can come to some mutually agreeable conclusions. Things cost more in London, and Londoners make more than people in most other cities to make up for it, though perhaps not quite enough to even things out. It is however completely illegitimate to wow people with the costs of things in London when it is only relevant in relation to how much one makes in relation to the cost of goods in that region.

I love coming here.

But numbers for New York go as follows (source) $17.53 median hourly, with $22.89 mean hourly. That’s gives us a median that’s 76% of the mean, so if we apply a similar model to London’s numbers, we get a median hourly wage of £13.

Which is $24.57, which is (again) only 140% of it’s American counterpart, despite a 200% ratio of prices.

Even if we dispense with the conversion to Median values, which is admittedly based on something of a vague assumption, we still have a comparison of $34 (£17) in London to $23 (New York), which gives us the same result.

Which tells us that, even in the city, people in the UK are making proportionately less than Americans in regards to local prices.

You can’t compare directly without knowing the proportions of grads in different fields, but new UK grads (and new graduates are the group bang in the middle of the earnings demographics) are clearly not earning twice as much as their US equivalents.

For instance, a better indicator of how wage levels compare to prices would be the median hourly wage instead of the government mandated minimum.

A quick Google points me to here, which gives the figure for the United States as $15.10. On the other hand, similar figures for the UK (found here) put the value at £11.12, or $21. So the Pound is worth twice as much, and prices are twice as high, but the average citizen is only earning about a third more. This would seem to support what these other folks are saying.

I’m just trying to correct some misunderstandings here, the fundamental point that British public transport is shockingly and unjustifiably expensive is unarguable. This is why instead of going out and using it I intend to play L4D a lot.

A-Scale, you can’t make a comparison like that based on minimum wage. It’s tremendously difficult to live how most people would consider “comfortably” on a job that pays U.S minimum wage, and, in fact, the minimum wage has been lagging behind the rate of inflation for a while now. I’m not sure what the state of the minimum wage in the UK is, but without presenting a comparison of trends in minimum wage reform and inflation across both countries you can’t really make this kind of assertation.

What import do trends have? I’m speaking of the prices right now. It is certainly nearly impossible to live on minimum wage in the US, but it does set the very lowest baseline that someone can be paid, and as such gives us an idea of what people on the bottom of the system are earning.

As to the transport system, government instituted monopoly does not equal government run. You have no choice of provider if you are going from your local station to another. If you do not own a car, you have no recourse but to walk or bike, which depending on your distance from your workplace may be unfeasible. They have you over a barrel.

And for the record, it does suck.

Also, I don’t quite follow this:

Your transport is A GOVERNMENT INSTITUTED MONOPOLY.

The transport systems in the UK haven’t been government run for years. We’ve got different firms owning the stations, the track, and the trains…

Well it still sucks!